ANOREXIA NERVOSA AND EATING DISORDER NOT OTHERWISE SPECIFIED (NOS) IN SINGAPORE: A SEVEN-YEAR RETROSPECTIVE STUDY

Anorexia nervosa and eating disorder not otherwise specified (nos), an eating disorder not fulfilling anorexia nervosa dsm-iv criteria are on a rising trend in singapore. the aims of this paper were to study the clinical characteristics and features of patients with anorexia and eating disorder nos in singapore. methods: a retrospective cohort analysis of 373 patients between 2003 and 2010 at a tertiary hospital was done. inclusion criteria included inpatients and outpatients with the age range of 12 years old to 40 years old fulfilling the diagnostic and statistical manual (dsm)-iv criteria for anorexia nervosa and patients with the diagnosis of eating disorder nos. the subjects are analyzed based on the severity of the eating disorder and the presentation subtypes. results: an analysis of the overall demographic data revealed the female to the male ratio to be 22.4:1. the chinese formed the largest ethnic group in the study population with 242 (86.1%) patients, and the bulk of the patients (75.8%) patients were between 12 to 20 years old. anorexia nervosarestricting subtype was the most common eating disorder (55.2%) and the most common body mass index (bmi) was between bmi 14.6 – 16.5 (35.2%). restriction technique (p = 0.01), binge/purge (p = 0.03) and exercise (p < 0.001) are statistically significant to cause transaminitis in patients. conclusion: there were significant changes in the demographics compared to the study reviewing patients from 1994 and 2002. there was a significant increase in the caucasian population with changes in the singapore immigration policy. a detail history taken during first visit can reduce the morbidity and mortality of these patients