Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q): norms for female university students attending a university primary health care service in Ireland

ObjectivesThe Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) is a self-report questionnaire that is used to identify probable cases of eating disorders. Norms are needed for interpretation of scores. The aim of this study is to establish norms for the EDE-Q among female university students attending a university primary health care service in Ireland and to present prevalence of key eating disorder behaviours.MethodsThe EDE-Q was administered to a consecutive sample of 200 female students aged 18–30 years attending a university primary health care service.ResultsThe mean global EDE-Q score was 1.51 (s.d.=1.28). There was a positive association between body mass index and the global EDE-Q score; 5.8% of the sample scored in the clinically significant range on the global EDE-Q score.ConclusionsThis study presents normative EDE-Q data for an Irish female university sample. These norms may inform clinicians and/or researchers in the evaluation of EDE-Q scores in Irish female university students