Bulimia Nervosa: Sensitivity and Specificity

Introduction: Binging plus/minus purging.

Prevalence

The sensitivity and specificity of findings for Bulimia Nervosa are listed below. See the left navigation bar to change the display.

Blood Test

Sensitivity = 45%

specificity not assessed.

Study: Int J Eat Disord. 1999 Sep;26(2):223-7. PMID: 10422613

Untagged

Finding	Sensitivity	Specificity	Comments, Study
Abnormal Serum Bicarbonate	25%	84%	Study: Int J Eat Disord. 1997 Jan;21(1):95-8. PMID: 8986523
Abnormal Serum Chloride	9%	100%	not independent of hypokalemia effect (i.e. does not add additional predictive power over hypo-K) Study: Int J Eat Disord. 1997 Jan;21(1):95-8. PMID: 8986523
Fractional Excretion of Sodium	37%	95%	>1.04 Study: Int J Eat Disord. 2001 Nov;30(3):279-87. PMID: 11746287
Hypokalemia	19%	100%	Study: Int J Eat Disord. 1997 Jan;21(1):95-8. PMID: 8986523
Urine Sodium to Chloride Ratio	52%	95%	>1.16 Study: Int J Eat Disord. 2001 Nov;30(3):279-87. PMID: 11746287