Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-mp689 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T21:29:14.267Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Bulimia Nervosa in Hong Kong Chinese Patients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Sing Lee*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Chinese University of Hong Kong, 11/F Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, Hong Kong
L. K. George Hsu
Affiliation:
Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh, USA
Y. K. Wing
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
*
Correspondence

Abstract

In contrast to the West, bulimic disorders are rarer than anorexia nervosa in Hong Kong. Four female normal-weight bulimic patients with mostly typical clinical features and conspicuous morbidity are reported. The case histories support the hypothesis that binge-eating is used to regulate unpleasant affect.

Type
Brief Reports
Copyright
Copyright © 1992 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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

Abraham, S. & Beumont, P. J. V. (1982) How patients describe bulimia or binge eating. Psychological Medicine, 12, 625635.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association (1987) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn, revised) (DSM–III–R). Washington, DC: APA.Google Scholar
Bond, M. H. (1991) Beyond the Chinese Face: Insights From Psychology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Boskind-Lodahl, M. (1976) Cinderella's step-sister: A feminist perspective on anorexia nervosa and bulimia. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 2, 342356.Google Scholar
Casper, R. C. (1990) Personality features of women with good outcome from restricting anorexia nervosa. Psychosomatic Medicine, 52, 156170.Google Scholar
Chen, C. N., Wong, J., Lee, N., et at (1992) The Shatin community mental health survey in Hong Kong: II. Major findings. Archives of General Psychiatry (in press).Google Scholar
Chiodo, J. & Latimer, P. R. (1983) Vomiting as a learned weight-control technique in bulimia. Journal of Behaviour Therapy A Experimental Psychiatry, 14, 131135.Google Scholar
Fairburn, C. G. (1985) Cognitive-behavioural treatment for bulimia. In Handbook of Psychotherapy for Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia (eds D. M. Garner & P. E. Garfinkel), pp. 160192. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Garner, D. M. & Garfinkel, P. E. (1979) The eating attitudes test: an index of the symptoms of anorexia nervosa. Psychological Medicine, 9, 273279.Google Scholar
Garner, D. M., Olmstead, M. A. & Polivy, J. (1983) Development and validation of a multidimensional eating disorder inventory for anorexia nervosa and bulimia. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 2, 1534.Google Scholar
Geracioti, T. D. & Liddle, R. A. (1988) Impaired cholecystokinin secretion in bulimia nervosa. New England Journal of Medicine, 319, 683688.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hathaway, S. R. & McKinley, J. C. (1967) Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory: Manual for Administration and Scoring. New York: Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Hsu, L. K. G., Crisp, A. H. & Harding, B. (1979) Outcome of anorexia nervosa. Lancet, i, 6265.Google Scholar
Hudson, J., Pope, H., Jonas, J., et al (1987) A controlled family history study of bulimia. Psychological Medicine, 17, 883890.Google Scholar
Kaye, W. H., Gwirteman, H. E., George, D. T., et al (1990) Disturbances of noradrenergic systems in normal-weight bulimia: relationship to diet and menses. Biological Psychiatry, 27, 421.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Khandelwal, S. K. & Saxena, S. (1990) Anorexia nervosa in people of Asian extraction. British Journal of Psychiatry, 157, 784.Google Scholar
Lacey, J. H. & Evans, C. D. H. (1986) The impulsivist: a multi-impulsive personality disorder. British Journal of Addiction, 81, 641650.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lee, S. (1991) Anorexia nervosa in Hong Kong - a Chinese perspective. Psychological Medicine, 21, 703711.Google Scholar
Patton, G. C., Johnson-Sabine, E., Wood, K., et al (1990) Abnormal eating attitudes in London schoolgirls - a prospective epidemiological study: outcome at twelve month follow-up. Psychological Medicine, 20, 383394.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pyle, R. L., Mitchell, J. E. & Eckert, E. D. (1981) Bulimia: a report of 34 cases. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 42, 6064.Google Scholar
Pyle, R. L., Halvorson, P. A., Neuman, P. A., et al (1986) The increasing prevalence of bulimia in freshman college students. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 5, 631647.Google Scholar
Russell, G. F. M. (1979) Bulimia nervosa: an ominous variant of anorexia nervosa. Psychological Medicine, 9, 429448.Google Scholar
Schwartz, D. N., Thompson, M. G. & Johnson, C. L. (1982) Anorexia nervosa and bulimia: the sociocultural context. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 1, 2036.3.0.CO;2-8>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strober, M., Morrell, W., Burroughs, J., et al (1985) A controlled family study of anorexia nervosa. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 19, 239246.Google Scholar
Suematsu, H., Ishikawa, H., Kuboki, T., et al (1985) Statistical studies on anorexia nervosa in Japan: detailed clinical data on 1,011 patients. Psychotherapy & Psychosomatics, 43, 96103.Google Scholar
Whitaker, A., Johnson, J., Shaffer, D., et at (1990) Uncommon troubles in young people: Prevalence estimates of selected psychiatric disorders in a nonreferred adolescent population. Archives of General Psychiatry, 47, 487496.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.