Seasonal variations in eating disorder subtypes in Japan

• Published in: The International journal of eating disorders Vol. 33; no. 1; pp. 71 - 77
• Main Authors: Yamatsuji, Masaki, Yamashita, Tatsuhisa, Arii, Ichiro, Taga, Chiaki, Tatara, Naoki, Fukui, Kenji
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 01-01-2003; Wiley; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Affect; Biological and medical sciences; Body Mass Index; Bulimia; bulimia nervosa; Comorbidity; Eating behavior disorders; Eating disorders; Feeding and Eating Disorders - diagnosis; Feeding and Eating Disorders - epidemiology; Humans; Japan - epidemiology; Medical sciences; Mental disorders; Miscellaneous; Morbidity; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Questionnaires; seasonal affective disorder; Seasonal Affective Disorder - diagnosis; Seasonal Affective Disorder - epidemiology; seasonal pattern assessment questionnaire; seasonality; Sleep - physiology; Social Behavior; Surveys and Questionnaires; Tropical medicine; Asia; Japan; Mood disorder; Social environment; Human; Concomitant disease; Prevalence; Seasonal variation; Depression; Eating disorder; Subtype; Comparative study; Geographical variation
• ISSN: 0276-3478; 1098-108X
• DOI: 10.1002/eat.10107

Objective
This study estimated the degree of seasonal changes in eating disorder subtypes in Japan.
Method
A Japanese version of the Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ) was mailed to 228 outpatients with eating disorders in Kyoto (latitude 35° 01′ N). Ninety responses were analyzed. The mean of the global seasonality score (GSS) in the SPAQ and the comorbidity rate of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and subsyndromal‐SAD in each subtype were used as indices of seasonality.
Results
The mean (8.2) of the GSS of the bulimia nervosa (BN) group and the sum (43%) of the comorbidity rates of SAD and subsyndromal‐SAD in the BN group were significantly higher than those in the nonclinical comparison group.
Discussion
The seasonality of BN in Kyoto is the highest among eating disorder subtypes, although lower than that in North America. This finding suggests that light therapy could be useful for Japanese BN patients. © 2002 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 33: 71–77, 2003.