Binge Eating Disorder (BED) has come into focus with its listing in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, 5th edition (DSM-5). Primary care is an appropriate place to screen for BED. However, some primary care providers are not aware of the disorder or of the importance of screening for it. The purpose of this study was to develop an improved, evidence-based screening tool to effectively screen for BED in primary care. With early detection of the disorder, providers could proceed with further evaluation, referrals and treatment, as appropriate, improving health and financial outcomes. A sample of 100 patients answered the newly developed Eating Questions (EQ) and the Binge Eating Disorder Screener-7 (BEDS-7) screening tools. The relationship between the two questionnaires was examined using Cohen’s Kappa (k). Agreement between BEDS-7 and EQ was statistically significant (k= .827, p= .000), signifying that EQ was answered the same as the BEDS-7. Additionally, McNemar’s test showed that the proportions of negative and positive results were not statistically different between the two screening tools, with a p-value of 0.6547. Since the EQ answered the same as BEDS-7 for screening in a sample population, the BEDS-7 can be replaced with EQ in the project site. Sustainability of the EQ can be attributed to it being brief and easily applied to electronic medical records (EMR).
