Psychosomatic Medicine, Vol 51, Issue 1 81-86, Copyright © 1989 by American Psychosomatic Society

ORIGINAL ARTICLES

Menstrual cycle abnormalities and subclinical eating disorders: a preliminary report

RE Kreipe, J Strauss, CH Hodgman and RM Ryan
University of Rochester Medical Center, New York.

Menstrual dysfunction is a common concomitant of anorexia nervosa and bulimia. Initial investigations emphasized the role of weight loss and lean/fat ratio in amenorrhea. Subsequent studies suggest a more complex interaction between eating disorders and menstrual status. However, in past investigations, menstrual abnormalities have been confounded with low weight. We conducted two studies to ascertain the prevalence of menstrual abnormalities in a group of women with subclinical eating pathology versus an age-, education-, and weight-matched group of normal controls. In Study I, 93.4% of the subclinical subjects reported a history of menstrual abnormality as compared to 11.7% of the normal controls. In Study II, 100% of the subclinical subjects, versus 15.0% of the controls, reported an abnormal menstrual history. These data suggest that menstrual dysfunction often occurs in women with abnormal eating attitudes but without weight loss or diagnosable eating pathology. Several hypotheses for this finding are proposed.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. T. Smith and B. E. Wolfe Amenorrhea as a Diagnostic Criterion for Anorexia Nervosa: A Review of the Evidence and Implications for Practice Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, June 1, 2008; 14(3): 209 - 215. [Abstract] [PDF]