Abstract

INTRODUCTION:

To improve the early identification of eating disorders the study tested whether women with risk behaviour for eating disorders have lower health-related life quality and more perceived stress than women without risk behaviour.

MATERIAL AND METHODS:

The study was a representative cross sectional survey of 16-29-year old women and was part of the Danish Health Interview Survey 2005. After the personal interviews, 487 returned the questionnaires, with a response rate of 53.3%. Participants responded to RiBED-8, a screening instrument for identification of risk behaviour for eating disorders and also to SF-36 and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS).

RESULTS:

Women with risk behaviour for eating disorders have a lower score on all subscales of SF-36 than women without risk behaviour. The differences are significant for the subscales for mental health, vitality, social function and general health. They also have a higher mean score on PSS than women without risk behaviour.

CONCLUSION:

Women with risk behaviour for eating disorders have lower mental health-related life quality than women without risk behaviour. They also experience daily life as more unpredictable, stressful and difficult.