Diagnostic criteria for bulimia nervosa

A review of the available literature and a survey of professionals in the field of eating disorders was conducted to examine the validity and utility of DSM-III-R criteria A and D for bulimia nervosa. Virtually no data bear on the requirement that a binge involve rapid eating, and relatively few studies on the requirement that a binge involve a “large” amount of food. Frequency of binge-eating appears to be unrelated to concurrent psychopathology or treatment outcome. Secondary analyses of existing data sets and future research aimed explicitly at resolving these issues are recommended.