The SCOFF questionnaire and clinical interview for eating disorders in general practice: comparative study

Abstract

Standards 2 and 3 of the national service framework for mental health outline the need to improve health care for patients with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.1 Healthcare workers in primary care are at the forefront of screening and managing these disorders. Assessment tools available to primary healthcare professionals can take a long time to administer and may need to be interpretedby specialists2; this may limit improvements in care. A screening tool was developed, but only to facitate epidemiological research.3 The SCOFF questionnaire is a brief and memorable tool designed to detect eating disorders and aid treatment (see figure). It showed excellent validity in a clinical population and reliability in a student population. 4 5 We assessed the SCOFF questionnaire in primary care. We invited sequential women attenders (aged 18-50) at two general practices in southwest London to participate. We gave participants …