Prevalence of psychosomatic and other medical illnesses in anorexic and bulimic patients.

The occurrence of psychosomatic disorders (PSD) in patients with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa has rarely been investigated. We examined the prevalence of four psychosomatic disorders [peptic ulcer (PU), bronchial asthma (BA), neurodermatitis (ND), and rheumatoid arthritis (RA)] in patients consecutively admitted to an eating disorders (ED) program. Responses to a validated questionnaire and clinical file information were obtained from 152 patients, 60% of whom were bulimic and 40% were anorexic.