Five yes-or-no questions designed to flag when a fuller eating-disorder assessment may be useful.
Method and research sourcesSCOFF was designed to raise suspicion of anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa through five memorable questions. It is a first-pass screen, not a comprehensive eating-disorder measure.
Each “yes” adds one point. The total ranges from 0 to 5; the original paper used two or more as a positive screen.
The original paper, a primary-care comparison, and current NICE guidance are listed below.
John F. Morgan, Fiona Reid, J. Hubert Lacey
Amy J. Luck, John F. Morgan, Fiona Reid, et al.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
Resources are selected by the eating-disorder topic, not by your score.
When food and body image become a source of distress: signs of an eating disorder, assessment, treatment, and the first steps towards help.
How to recognise dangerous food restriction, understand atypical anorexia, know when urgent help is needed and find appropriate treatment.
How loss of control over eating, restriction and attempts to compensate for food are connected. When urgent medical help is needed and how bulimia is treated.
Take the 10-item Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and reflect on your overall attitude toward yourself without diagnostic labels.
Take the 10-item PSS-10 and reflect on how unpredictable, uncontrollable, and overloaded life felt during the last month.
No. They indicate that a fuller professional assessment may be useful.
Yes. No brief screen captures every presentation, and any concerning behaviour or medical symptom deserves attention.
The original British question used one stone, equal to about 6.35 kilograms, over three months.
