Sleep-wake cycles in women with binge eating disorder

Objective: Binge eating disorder (BED) is a new diagnostic category in the 4th ed. of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). The majority of studies on sleep characteristics in overweight women have used nonbinging obese women. The aim of this study was to evaluate sleep characteristics in obese BED patients in comparison to non-BED obese (OB) and nonbinging normal weight (NW) women. Method: Eighteen females with BED, 13 OB, and 16 NW women were recruited. Sleep-wake patterns were monitored for 1 week using mini- actigraphs and self-report questionnaires. Results: Their ambulatory sleep data revealed that BED and OB subjects had significantly lower sleep efficiency, had more wake during sleep, and had less zero activity than the NW group. The self-report questionnaires presented significantly more sleep disturbances in the BED and OB groups than in the NW group. Discussion: The objective results support the subjective sleep disturbances reported by the two obese groups, the BED and the OB. A possible explanation for these findings could be weight-related physical discomfort or the existence of breathing disorders in sleep. Further research, for example, overnight polysomnography recordings and follow-up treatment, is required.