Introduction: The presence of eating disorders in bipolar population is not rare, with rates over 10 %, according to the few available epidemiologic studies, however the literature on this issue is still scarce. An even higher percentage of bipolar individuals suffer from serious problems related to eating behavior without fulfilling criteria for DSM-IV eating disorder.
Methods: The Bipolar Eating Disorders Scale (BEDS) was designed on the basis of the existing eating scales, adjusted to the characteristics of bipolar disorders from the complaints of our sample of patients (n=350). Subsequently, a group of experts made the selection of the most representative and independent items in order to obtain a short, 10-item scale, aimed at assessing the intensity and frequency of eating dysfunctions in the bipolar population and not at diagnosis. We administered the scale to a healthy control group (n=55) to evaluate feasibility and to determine the cut-off score.
Results: The BEDS is a 10-item simple, self-administered scale. Average time of completing this scale is about 1.13 min (1 min, 21 seconds) +/-26 seconds. Median score was 6 and the mean score was 6.6 with a standard deviation of 3.7, this being the reason why the cut-off point was found to be around 13 points. Patients receiving scores over 13 may require an individualized intervention to evaluate which were the main difficulties and to propose treatment.
Conclusions: The BEDS allows for a rapid and effective evaluation of both the intensity and the frequency of eating dysfunctions in bipolar patients in order to perform an adequate intervention for the specific needs of each one of the patients.