Scoff Questionnaire

A Screening Tool for Eating Disorders

The SCOFF Questionnaire is a five-question screening tool that has been validated in specialist and primary care settings. It has a sensitivity of 50-100% and specificity of approx. 90% for Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa (Luck et al, 2002; Hill et al, 2010; Solmi et al, 2015). Though not diagnostic, a score of 2 or more positive answers should raise your index of suspicion of an eating disorder, highlighting need for more detailed history as delineated below. The questions can be delivered either verbally or in written form.

S – Do you make yourself Sick because you feel uncomfortably full?

C – Do you worry you have lost Control over how much you eat?

O – Have you recently lost more than One stone (6.35 kg) in a three-month period?

F – Do you believe yourself to be Fat when others say you are too thin?

F – Would you say Food dominates your life?

An answer of ‘yes’ to two or more questions warrants further questioning and more comprehensive assessment.

Hill, L. S., Reid, F., Morgan, J. F., & Lacey, J. H. (2010). SCOFF, The Development of an Eating Disorder Screening Questionnaire. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 43(4), 344-51. doi: 10.1002/eat.20679

Luck, A.J., Morgan, J.F., Reid, F., O'Brien, A., Brunton, J., Price, C., Perry, L., & Lacey, J.H. (2002), ‘The SCOFF Questionnaire and Clinical Interview for Eating Disorders in General Practice: Comparative Study’, British Medical Journal, 325,7367, 755 - 756. doi: 10.1136/bmj.325.7367.755

Solmi, F., Hatch, S. L., Hotopf, M., Treasure, J., & Micali, N. (2015). Validation of the SCOFF Questionnaire for Eating Disorders in a Multiethnic General Population Sample. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 48(3), 312-6. doi: 10.1002/eat.22373

Morgan, J. F., Reid, F., & Lacey, J. H. (2000). The SCOFF Questionnaire: A New Screening Tool for Eating Disorders. Western Journal of Medicine, 172(3), 164-5. doi: 10.1136/ewjm.172.3.164