Eating disorder NOS (EDNOS): an example of the troublesome “not otherwise specified” (NOS) category in DSM-IV.
Open accessAbstract
The "Not Otherwise Specified" (NOS) category within DSM-IV is designed for disorders of clinical severity that are not specified within broad diagnostic classes. "NOS" diagnoses are intended to be residual categories and they tend to be neglected by researchers. This can be inappropriate. The problems associated with certain NOS diagnoses are well illustrated by "Eating Disorder NOS" (sometimes termed EDNOS), which is the most common category of eating disorder encountered in routine clinical practice yet it has barely been studied. Indeed, there has been no research on its treatment. Interim and longer-term conceptual and practical solutions to the anomalous status of eating disorder NOS are proposed including the creation of a new diagnosis termed "mixed eating disorder". Several of these solutions are of relevance to NOS categories in general. All the solutions should fulfil criteria for clinical utility.
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The high prevalence estimates of subthreshold anorexia nervosa (0.8%) and subthreshold binge-eating disorder (2.5%) provide evidence for a spectrum of eating disorders among youths in the general population.
“The high prevalence estimates of SAN (0.8%) and SBED (2.5%) provide evidence for a spectrum of eating disorders among youths in the general population.17–19”
From Prevalence and Correlates of Eating Disorders in Adolescents: Results From the National Comorbidity Survey Replication Adolescent Supplement (2011) · cites this paper as [18]
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- Authors
- Fairburn, C. G., & Bohn, K.
- Affiliations
- Warneford Hospital (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Fairburn, Christopher G.
- Venue
- Behaviour Research and Therapy
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2005-06
- Volume
- 43
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 691-701
- ISSN
- 0005-7967 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC2785872
- OpenAlex
- W2139804713
- Cited by
- 496
- References
- 37
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 29 · 2015: 30 · 2014: 30 · 2013: 32 · 2012: 37
- FWCI
- 23.64
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Behaviour Research and Therapy (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Wellcome Trust (046386)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Mental Health and Psychiatry
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Disorders and Psychopathology
- Keywords
- eating disorder not otherwise specified, DSM-IV, eating disorders, diagnostic classification
- MeSH terms
- Feeding and Eating Disorders, Diagnosis, Differential, Humans, Prognosis, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
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