Lack of pattern of birth in patients with bulimia nervosa

Int J Eat Disord. 2013 Nov;46(7):690-2. doi: 10.1002/eat.22148. Epub 2013 Jun 3.

Abstract

Objective: An excess of bulimia nervosa (BN) births during the fall has been recently reported, but this finding has not been yet adequately replicated. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the presence of a seasonal birth pattern in a representative clinical sample of women with BN.

Method: We registered the month of birth of 216 female patients who fulfilled all the criteria for BN according to DSM-IV on admission to a specialized eating disorders service in Spain.

Results: Our analyses showed no significant variation in the season of birth of our BN sample when compared to a general population.

Discussion: Our data do not support the hypothesis of a season of birth bias in BN.

Keywords: bulimia nervosa; season of birth; seasonality.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Bulimia Nervosa / epidemiology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Seasons*
  • Spain / epidemiology