Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-30T23:28:51.252Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Anorexia nervosa or otherwise? The usefulness of adult diagnostic systems in child and adolescent eating disorders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2014

Alma Lydon ,
Onome Agbahovbe  and
Brendan Doody
Alma Lydon
Affiliation:
Warrenstown Inpatient Unit, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15, Ireland
Onome Agbahovbe
Affiliation:
Warrenstown Inpatient Unit, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15, Ireland
Brendan Doody
Affiliation:
Warrenstown Inpatient Unit, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15, Ireland
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We report on the case of a 15-year-old boy referred to Warrenstown inpatient unit for management of what appeared to be a typical case of anorexia nervosa. Over the course of his admission however, this diagnosis was no longer considered appropriate and substituted for a food avoidance emotional disorder. This is one of a number of cases of young males who have recently been referred for inpatient management of anorexia nervosa but which emerged into something quite atypical. The limited usefulness of the ICD-10/DSM-IV criteria in the diagnosis of an eating disorder in childhood and adolescence in this case reflects a broader level of discontent with the application of such diagnostic classification systems in a paediatric population.

Keywords

Anorexia nervosaFood avoidance emotional disorderChild and adolescent psychiatryPsychosomatic illness.
Type
Case report
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 23 , Issue 4 , December 2006 , pp. 156 - 158
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Vitello, B, Lederhendler, I. Research on eating disorders: current status prospects. Biol Psychiatry 2000; 47:777–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2.Bryant-Waugh, R, Lask, B. Annotation: eating disorders in childhood. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 1995;36: 191–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3.Whitaker, A, Johnson, J, Shaffer, D, Rapoport, J, Kalikao, K, Walsh, B. Uncommon troubles in young people: prevalence estimates of selected psychiatric disorders in a non-referred psychiatric population. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1990;47:487–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Crisp, AH, Palmer, RL, Kalucy, RS. How common is anorexia nervosa? A prevalence study. British Journal of Psychiatry 1976;128:549–54.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5.Garner, DM, Garfinkel, RE, editors. Handbook of psychotherapy for anorexianervosa and bulimia nervosa. NewYork: Guilford press; 1997.Google Scholar
6.Van Hoeken, et al 2003Google Scholar
7.American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. 4th ed. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association; 1994.Google Scholar
8.World Health Organisation (WHO). The ICD-10 classification of mental and behavioural disorders: clinical descriptions and diagnostic guidelines. Geneva: World Health Organisation, 1992.Google Scholar
9.Garfinkel, PE, Lin, E, Goering, P, Spegg, C, Goldbloom, D, Kennedy, Set al.Should amenorrhoea be necessary for the diagnosis of anorexia nervosa? Evidence from a Canadian community sample. British Journal of Psychiatry 1996; 168:500–506.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10.Nicholls, D, Chater, R, Lask, B. Children into DSM don't go: A comparison of classification systems for eating disorders in childhood and early adolescence. Int Journal of Eating Disorders 2000; 28:317–24.3.0.CO;2-#>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11.Lask, B, Bryant-Waugh, R. Anorexia Nervosa and Related Eating Disorders in Children and AdolescentsGoogle Scholar