Sleep quality and psychopathological features in obese binge eaters

The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of Binge Eating Disorder (BED) and to investigate the subjective sleep qualities and the psychopathological features of BED in treatment‐seeking obese patients. Thirty‐six treatment‐seeking obese subjects and 37 control subjects were interviewed with the DSM‐IV research criteria for BED, The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Bulimic Investigatory Test, Edinburg (BITE) and SCL‐90‐R scales. Eight out of 36 treatment‐seeking obese patients (22.2 per cent) met the criteria for BED. The PSQI global scores, sleep latencies and SCL‐PSDI, SCL‐interpersonal sensitivity subscale results were all significantly higher in treatment‐seeking BED obese subjects than non‐BED (N‐BED) subjects and controls. Our findings suggest that BED appears to be a common disorder in treatment‐seeking obese patients. The treatment‐seeking obese BED patients suffer from more psychopathological problems than N‐BED obese patients and controls, and the subjective sleep qualities are likely to be disrupted in patients with BED. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.