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Table 1 Characteristics of the study population overall and by recruitment site a

From: The household economic burden of eating disorders and adherence to treatment in Australia

Personal and family information

Total

Private Hospital

Public Hospital

(n = 90)

(n = 67)

(n = 18)

Age, mean (±SD)

24.5 (SD = 8.3)

28.9 (SD:8.7)

27.3 (SD:6.9)

Female

89 /90 (98.9%)

66 (98.5%)

18 (100%)

English spoken at home

81/90 (90.0%)

60 (89.6%)

17 (94.4%)

Marital status

   

Couple

21/89 (23.6%)

15 (22.4%)

6 (33.3%)

Single

68/89 (76.4%)

52 (77.6%)

12 (66.7%)

Current living situation

   

Living with parents

42/90 (46.7%)

33 (49.3%)

7 (38.9%)

Living with spouse/partner

21/90 (23.3%)

16 (23.9%)

5 (27.8%)

Living alone

14/90 (15.6%)

10 (14.9%)

2 (11.1%)

Living in shared accommodation

12/90 (14.4%)

8 (11.9%)

4 (22.2%)

Highest qualification completed or in the process of completing

   

Secondary school or lower

19/89 (21.3%)

16 (23.9%)

3 (16.7%)

University or TAFE

70/89 (78.7%)

51 (76.1%)

14 (77.8%)

Current work status b

   

Employed (full or part-time)

42/90 (46.7%)

30 (44.8%)

10 (55.6%)

Employed, on sick leave

7/90 (7.8%)

3 (4.5%)

3 (16.7%)

Unemployed

6/90 (6.7%)

4 (6.0%)

2 (11.1%)

Unemployed, due to medical reasons

22/90 (24.4%)

20 (29.9%)

0

Other

13/90 (14.4%)

10 (14.9%)

2 (11.1%)

Medical information

   

Age when eating disorder was diagnosed, mean (±SD)

18.0 (SD = 4.9)

17.6 (SD:4.8)

19.9 (SD:5.1)

Years since diagnosis, mean (±SD)

10.6 (SD = 8.3)

11.2 (SD:8.6)

7.8 (SD:6.6)

BMI, mean (±SD)

19.4 (SD = 3.9)

19.1 (SD:4.2)

20.1 (SD:2.7)

Eating disorder diagnosis, by broad category b,c

   

Anorexia Nervosa

49/90 (54.4%)

45 (67.2%)

2 (11.1%)

Bulimia Nervosa

15/90 (16.7%)

11 (16.4%)

2 (11.1%)

Other

26/90 (28.9%)

11 (16.4%)

14 (77.8%)

Psychological co-morbidity

   

Alcohol and/or substance abuse

16/88 (18.2%)

13 (19.7%)

2 (11.1%)

Anxiety disorders

50/88 (56.8%)

41 (62.1%)

7 (41.2%)

Bi-polar disorder

4/88 (4.5%)

3 (4.5%)

1 (5.9%)

Depression

77/88 (87.5%)

60 (90.9%)

14 (82.4%)

Psychosis

4/88 (4.5%)

3 (4.5%)

1 (5.9%)

Proportion with a hospital admission for the treatment of the eating disorder or associated complications in the past 12 months?b

50/89 (56.2%)

43 (64.2%)

4 (23.5%)

Insurance status

   

Reached the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) safety net thresholdb

15/89 (16.9%)

15 (22.4%)

0

Reached the Medicare safety net thresholdb

31/89 (34.8%)

28 (41.8%)

2 (11.8%)

Private health insuranceb

78/89 (86.7%)

63 (94.0%)

12 (70.6%)

Income

   

AUD$20,000 and under

9/89 (10.1%)

6 (9.0%)

1 (5.9%)

AUD$20,000-39,999

19/89 (21.3%)

16 (23.9%)

3 (17.6%)

AUD$40,000-59,999

7/89 (7.9%)

4 (6.0%)

3 (17.6%)

AUD$60,000-79,999

7/89 (7.9%)

4 (6.4%)

1 (5.9%)

AUD$80,000-99,999

7/89 (7.9%)

4 (6.4%)

3 (17.6%)

AUD$100,000 or more

22/89 (24.4%)

20 (29.9%)

1 (5.9%)

Don’t know/rather not answer

18/89 (20.2%)

13 (19.4%)

5 (29.4%)

  1. Data are shown as frequency and proportion (%) or mean and standard deviation (±SD).
  2. aData are not shown separately for the subsample who were recruited online as n = 5.
  3. bWe found a significant difference in these variables by recruitment site, P < 0.05.
  4. cAnorexia includes: Anorexia nervosa purging subtype and restricting subtype; Other includes: Binge Eating Disorder, Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified and Don’t know / not sure.
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BMC Psychiatry

ISSN: 1471-244X

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