Can the Diabetes Eating Problem Survey-Revised (DEPS-R) reliably identify eating disorder diagnosis in women with...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the Diabetes Eating Problems Survey-Revised (DEPS-R) against the Eating Disorder Diagnostic Interview (EDDI). Specific aims were to (1) assess the ability of the DEPS-R to identify Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-5 (DSM-5) eating disorders, including sensitivity and specificity of the current DEPS-R cutoff ≥20 and (2) report the correlation of each item to the presence of any eating disorder.

Baseline data from 293 women (14-35 years) with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and body image concerns enrolled in a multinational randomized controlled trial were examined. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, univariate logistic regression and two-sample t-test were performed.

The ROC analysis demonstrated good accuracy of the DEPS-R with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.82 (95% CI 0.79-0.94). The cutoff of ≥20 yielded a sensitivity of 87.5% (95% CI 83.6%-91.3%) and a specificity of 60.4% (95% CI 54.8%-66.0%). Univariate logistic regression identified 12 items as significantly correlated with the presence of any eating disorder. The highest odds ratios (OR) were observed for items 9 (OR = 3.64), 8 (OR = 2.85), 13 (OR = 2.36), 14 (OR = 2.23), 15 (OR = 1.99) and 5 (OR = 1.99).

This is the first study to investigate the ability of the DEPS-R to identify DSM-5 eating disorder diagnosis established via a diagnostic interview using a ROC-analysis. DEPS-R cutoff ≥20 correctly identified most cases with eating disorders but showed moderate specificity, considered acceptable as an initial screening tool for disordered eating. In clinical care, specific DEPS-R items may be emphasized to explore the presence of disordered eating behaviours and eating disorders.