Clinical characteristics of patients with eating disorders as determined by the Rorschach test

This study was performed to evaluate the relationship between the test parameters and the clinical characteristics of 48 female patients diagnosed as anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa according to DSM -IV criteria. First, we evaluated the test parameters according to the type of symptoms. The patients were divided into three groups : Group ANR consisted of 13 anorexia patients with strict dietary restrictions, Group ANB of 24 patients with anorexia nervosa and bulimia, and Group BN of 11 patients with bulimia nervosa. Because the test parameters deviated widely within each group, the means were not useful for clinical evaluation. Second, cluster analysis was performed, which categorized the eating disorders into 2 groups (Group A and Group B), with all ANR patients in Group A, while ANB and BN patients divided into both Group A and Group B. Group B was characterized by negative behavior, and Group A was characterized by the feature of AN. The clinical features of the patients in Group A and Group B as determined by cluster analysis showed that suicidal attempts were significantly higher in Group B than in Group A. We revealed that ANB and BN patients who categorized Group B showed negative behavior. So the low impulse regulation is not a feature of bulimia but of the patients of Group B. It was suggested that Group A showed the feature of untreated patients of eating disorders.