Using clinical cutoff scores on the eating disorder examination-questionnaire to evaluate eating disorder symptoms during and after naturalistic intensive treatment

ABSTRACT

Clinical cutoff scores for self-report measures provide a means of evaluating clinically significant pathology during and after treatment. A cutoff of 2.8 on the Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire (EDE-Q) has been recommended to screen for eating disorders (ED). We used this cutoff to assess ED symptoms in adolescents (n = 444) and adults (n = 592) through ED treatment and follow-up. Most patients scored above 2.8 at intake (adolescents 67%, M = 3.21; adults 78%, M = 4.20) and below 2.8 at discharge (adolescents 65%, M = 1.87; adults 66%, M = 2.67), with gains often maintained through follow-up (40% of adolescents and 35% of adults at 12-month follow-up). EDE-Q scores were higher in adults than adolescents and in patients with binge/purge disorders. Results suggest a cutoff of 2.8 on the EDE-Q effectively tracks ED symptom improvement through treatment and discharge. This supports the need for the development of culture-specific and empirically developed clinical cutoffs and their widespread use to evaluate program effectiveness.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/10640266.2023.2191488.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.