Validity Studies of Quality of Life Instruments for Eating Disorders: Systematic Review of the Literature

To conduct a systematic review of studies that evaluated quality of life (QOL) among individuals with eating disorders, to analyze the characteristics of specific QOL instruments for eating disorders. Bibliographic searches were conducted in 6 databases and manual searches in 2 journals, covering the period from January 1975 to June 2008. The search strategies provided a total of 29,537 references. Out of the 41 studies that met the inclusion criteria for this review, 5 reported on the validation process for 4 specific instruments for eating disorders. Among the 4 specific QOL instruments for eating disorders, 3 presented adequate development procedures and psychometric properties. However, further research is needed to prove the validity and applicability of these instruments. Additional validation studies are needed, especially in relation to patients who deny that they have a disorder.