Depressive symptoms are associated with medication use and lower health-related quality of life in overweight women with binge eating disorder.

BACKGROUND: Depression is a most burdensome illness, with personal and societal costs surpassing those of any other illness. Furthermore, depression affects women at a much higher rate than men. The most prevalent eating disorder among adult women is binge eating disorder (BED). Depression and obesity are common in women with BED, most of whom seek treatment later in life. Depression, obesity, and age are associated with greater health care use and lower health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Hence, for women with BED estimating the effects of depression can be confounded by both age and body mass index (BMI). The current study examined the relationships between depression, HRQOL, and health care utilization among treatment seeking women with BED.

METHODS: Participants (n = 105) completed the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, a health care utilization and cost survey, the Personality Assessment Inventory depression scale, and the EQ-5D to measure HRQOL.

FINDINGS: On average, participants were severely obese with a mean BMI of 38.20 (SD = 6.80); 67.27% had a lifetime history of depression. Participants had higher health care costs and lower HRQOL than published age- and gender-matched norms. After controlling for age and BMI, depressive symptoms were significantly related to greater medication use (excluding antidepressants), and lower HRQOL.

CONCLUSION: Results suggest that targeting depressive symptoms may reduce the economic and personal burden of BED for women.