A survey of the use of assessment instruments by eating disorder professionals in clinical practice.

Accurate assessment is important in all phases of the treatment process, but there is little information about the assessment procedures utilized by those treating eating disorders in clinical practice. This study surveyed the assessment practices of eating disorder specialists. A brief questionnaire was sent to 480 eating disorder specialists in clinical practice; 95 were returned (19.8% return rate). The questionnaire asked specific questions about what assessment methods and measures they used for initial assessment and diagnosis as well as for treatment outcome. A significant minority of respondents used no validated measures at any stage of the assessment process, and even among those who did use well-validated assessment instruments, only a few instruments were used with any regularity. These results raise some potentially troubling issues concerning the typical assessment practices of clinicians. More collaboration between researchers and clinicians is needed to improve this situation.