Investigation of Autistic Tendency in Eating Disorders : The Follow-up Survey Using the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ)

Okuhira Yuko

doi:10.15064/jjpm.48.5_339

Background : There have been sporadic reports on the relationship between low body weight and pervasive development disorders (PDD), and case reports of eating disorder (ED) complicated by Asperger's disorder (AD). The purpose of this study is to investigate the autistic tendency in ED patients and to conduct a short-term follow-up survey using an autism scale. Methods : In the initial survey, subjects were 45 ED patients treated between June 2004 and April 2005, and in the one-year follow-up survey, subjects were 25 patients. In both surveys, the Japanese version of the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) and Eating disorder inventory (EDI) were conducted. Results : ED patients displayed a higher autistic tendency than healthy people. In the restricting type of anorexia nervosa (AN-R) patients, there was a significant positive correlation between AQ and EDI, and a moderate negative correlation between AQ and BMI. However, no correlation was found between AQ and EDI, between AQ and BMI in other subtypes. The improvement in BMI was seen in AN-R by a follow-up survey one year later, but the AQ scores remained unchanged. Conclusion : The autistic tendency of ED patients tends to be higher than that of healthy people in both the initial and follow-up surveys. Particularly with the AN-R patients, the severity of autistic tendency affects psychopathological severity and body weight loss. We conclude that autistic tendency is useful to consider the psychopathology of ED.

Investigation of Autistic Tendency in Eating Disorders : The Follow-up Survey Using the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ)

Bibliographic Information

Search this article

Abstract

Journal

Citations (4)*help

References(28)*help

Keywords

Details 詳細情報について

Export

Report a problem