The World Health Organization (WHO) International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD) is used globally by 194 WHO member nations. It is used for assigning clinical diagnoses, providing the framework for reporting public health data, and to inform the organization and reimbursement of health services. Guided by overarching principles of increasing clinical utility and global applicability, the 11th revision of the ICD proposes major changes that incorporate empirical advances since the previous revision in 1992. To test recommended changes in the Mental, Behavioral, and Neurodevelopmental Disorders chapter, multiple vignette-based case-controlled field studies have been conducted which examine clinicians’ ability to accurately and consistently use the new guidelines and assess their overall clinical utility. This manuscript reports on the results from the study of the proposed ICD-11 guidelines for feeding and eating disorders (FEDs). Participants were 2288 mental health professionals registered with WHO’s Global Clinical Practice Network. The study was conducted in Chinese, English, French, Japanese, and Spanish. Clinicians were randomly assigned to apply either the ICD-11 or ICD-10 diagnostic guidelines for FEDs to a pair of case vignettes designed to test specific clinical questions. Clinicians selected the diagnosis they thought was correct for each vignette, evaluated the presence of each essential feature of the selected diagnosis, and the clinical utility of the diagnostic guidelines. The proposed ICD-11 diagnostic guidelines significantly improved accuracy for all FEDs tested relative to ICD-10 and attained higher clinical utility ratings; similar results were obtained across all five languages. The inclusion of binge eating disorder and avoidant-restrictive food intake disorder reduced the use of residual diagnoses. Areas needing further refinement were identified. The proposed ICD-11 diagnostic guidelines consistently outperformed ICD-10 in distinguishing cases of eating disorders and showed global applicability and appropriate clinical utility. These results suggest that the proposed ICD-11 guidelines for FEDs will help increase accuracy of public health data, improve clinical diagnosis, and enhance health service organization and provision. This is the first time in the revision of the ICD that data from large-scale, empirical research examining proposed guidelines is completed in time to inform the final diagnostic guidelines.

Recurrent binge eating episodes, the core feature of Bulimia Nervosa (BN) and Binge Eating Disorder (BED), are frequently comorbid with obesity. Psychological interventions, notably Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), are effective for binge eating reduction in BED or BN but less so for weight loss. Behavioural Weight Loss Therapy (BWLT) shows effectiveness for binge eating reduction and weight loss but the latter appears poorly sustained over time. Our aim was to review evidence for efficacy of psychological therapies for BN/BED associated with overweight or obesity in reducing binge frequency and weight. A systematic search for randomized controlled trials with adult samples who had BN or BED was conducted considering articles in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese with no restrictions for the timeline publication ending in March 2016. A quality appraisal of the trials and meta-analyses comparing BWLT to CBT were done. This review identified 2248 articles for screening and 19 published articles were selected. No trials of BN were identified. This review found CBT was favoured compared to BWLT with regard to short-term binge eating reduction. However, insufficient evidence was found for superiority for BWLT efficacy compared to CBT considering binge eating remission, reduction of binge eating frequency and weight loss. More research is needed to test the efficacy of psychological treatments for BED or BN with co-morbid overweight or obesity, including trials evaluating binge eating remission and weight loss in the long-term.

The World Health Organization is currently revising the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10). A central goal for the revision of the ICD classification of mental and behavioural disorders is to improve its clinical utility. Global representation and cultural sensitivity and relevance are important across all mental disorders, but are especially critical to advancing our understanding, diagnosis and treatment of feeding and eating disorders (FED). This paper summarises the current status of the Eating Disorders Consultation Group (EDCG) considerations regarding diagnostic categories for FEDs in ICD-11 and represents work in progress. The recommendations of the EDCG are informed by relevant research evidence, and the consultation group is striving to find a balance between clinical utility and diagnostic purity. Provisional recommendations of the EDCG include: (1) merger of previous FEDs categories in one group; (2) inclusion of six main FED categories that include anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), pica, regurgitation disorder, binge-eating disorder (BED) and avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder, the last two representing new categories; (3) broadening of categories with the aim of reducing the use of the unspecified ED category (e.g. dropping the amenorrhea requirement, increasing the body mass index cut-off for low weight and rewording the cognitive and behavioural features of AN to be more culturally-sensitive). In line with this last recommendation, one point that require further analysis pertain to frequency and severity of the binge-eating and purging behaviours in BN and BED, as the EDCG is considering reducing or eliminating the frequency criterion and broadening the binge-eating criterion to include ‘subjective’ binge episodes.

Background: Objective binge eating episodes (OBEs) refer to binge eating on an unusually large amount of food and are the core symptom in current definitions of bulimia nervosa (BN) and binge eating disorder (BED). Subjective binge eating episodes (SBEs) refer to eating on a small or moderate amount of food (that is perceived as large) and like OBEs are associated with loss of control (LOC). Reaching consensus on what is considered a large amount of food can however be problematic and it remains unclear if the size of a binge is an essential component for defining a binge eating episode. The aim of this study was to compare the eating disorder features and general psychopathology of subjects reporting OBEs with those reporting only SBEs. Methods: This is a retrospective secondary analysis of data from 70 obese participants at the recruitment phase of a multicentre trial for BED. Individuals who answered positively to the presence of binge eating and LOC over eating had their binge eating episodes further explored by interview and self-report. Two groups, those who reported current OBEs (with or without SBEs) and those who reported current SBEs only were compared for age, gender, marital status, body mass index (BMI), indicators of LOC over eating, severity of binge-eating and associated psychopathology. Results: The majority of participants in both the OBE and SBE groups endorsed the experience of at least four indicators of LOC. There were no significant differences between the groups. Both groups had high levels of binge-eating severity, moderate severity of associated depressive symptoms and frequent psychiatric co-morbidity. Conclusion: Treatment seeking participants with obesity who reported SBEs alone were similar to those who reported OBEs in terms of eating disorder features and general psychopathology. These findings suggest that classificatory systems of mental illnesses should consider introducing SBEs as a feature of the diagnostic criteria for binge eating and, thus, facilitate the inclusion of participants with SBEs in treatment trials.

Background: Bulimia nervosa (BN) and binge eating disorder (BED) are eating disorders (EDs) characterized by recurrent binge eating. They are associated with medical complications, impaired adaptive function and often a high BMI, for which a multidisciplinary treatment approach may be needed. This study explored the efficacy of a novel intervention integrating Cognitive Behavioural Therapy- Enhanced (CBT-E) and weight management for people with recurrent binge eating episodes and high BMI with respect to physical, psychopathological and quality of life outcomes. Methods: Ninety-eight adults diagnosed with BN, BED, or Other Specified/Unspecified Feeding or Eating Disorder (OSFED/UFED) and BMI ≥ 27 to <40 kg/m² were randomized to a multidisciplinary approach, the Healthy APproach to weIght management and Food in Eating Disorders (HAPIFED) or to CBT-E. Metabolic parameters, health-related quality of life, general psychological and ED symptoms and ED diagnostic status outcomes are reported. Data were analyzed with mixed effects models adopting multiple imputed datasets where data were missing. Results: Both HAPIFED and CBT-E showed statistical significance for the time effect, with reduction in stress (p < 0.001), improvement in mental health-related quality of life (p = 0.032), reduction in binge eating severity (p < 0.001), and also in global ED symptoms scores (p < 0.001), with the significant changes found at end of treatment and sustained at 12-month follow-up. However, no statistical significance was found for differences between the interventions in any of the outcomes measured. Despite a high BMI, most participants (> 75%) had blood test results for glucose, insulin, triglycerides and cholesterol within the normal range, and 52% were within the normal range for the physical component of quality of life at baseline with no change during the trial period. Conclusion: Integrating weight and ED management resulted in comparable outcomes to ED therapy alone. Although adding weight management to an ED intervention had no adverse effects on psychological outcomes, it also had no beneficial effect on metabolic outcomes. Therefore, more intense weight management strategies may be required where indicated to improve metabolic outcomes. Safety will need to be concurrently investigated. Trial registration: US National Institutes of Health clinical trial registration number NCT02464345, date of registration 08/06/2015. Changes to the present paper from the published protocol paper (Trials 18:578, 2015) and as reported in the Trial registration (clinicaltrials.gov) are reported in Supplementary File 1.