Passage
A common misconception in medicine is that eating disorders present similarly in males and females. Research suggests that this is untrue: males meeting diagnostic criteria for eating disorders are more likely than females to have another psychiatric illness, demonstrate a later age of onset, and engage in excessive exercise. They are less likely to engage in purging behaviors, be diagnosed by clinicians, or seek treatment. When males do enter treatment, they are generally further along in the course of the illness.The classification of eating disorders in males according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) has recently been debated. Research suggests that one very common manifestation of eating disorder etiology in males, called muscle dysmorphia (MD) , includes an obsession with a larger and more muscular body, which contrasts with the thin, idealized body for females with eating disorders. Characterized as a subset of body dysmorphic disorder, MD is more recently conceptualized as part of a spectrum of eating disorders; however, it is still classified under the obsessive-compulsive and related disorders umbrella in the DSM-5.One study applied the latest DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa (AN) , bulimia nervosa (BN) , binge eating disorder (BED) , and MD to the medical records of male veterans treated in Veterans Administration (VA) hospitals across the United States from 2000 to 2015. The study (Table 1) found a significant increase in psychiatric comorbidity compared to controls (C) .Table 1 Prevalence of Psychiatric Disorders for Eating Disorder and MD Cases and Controls in a National Sample of Male Veterans Treated at VA Hospitals from 2000 to 2015

-The most appropriate control subjects for the study described in the final paragraph would be:

Question

Passage
A common misconception in medicine is that eating disorders present similarly in males and females. Research suggests that this is untrue: males meeting diagnostic criteria for eating disorders are more likely than females to have another psychiatric illness, demonstrate a later age of onset, and engage in excessive exercise. They are less likely to engage in purging behaviors, be diagnosed by clinicians, or seek treatment. When males do enter treatment, they are generally further along in the course of the illness.The classification of eating disorders in males according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) has recently been debated. Research suggests that one very common manifestation of eating disorder etiology in males, called muscle dysmorphia (MD) , includes an obsession with a larger and more muscular body, which contrasts with the thin, idealized body for females with eating disorders. Characterized as a subset of body dysmorphic disorder, MD is more recently conceptualized as part of a spectrum of eating disorders; however, it is still classified under the obsessive-compulsive and related disorders umbrella in the DSM-5.One study applied the latest DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa (AN) , bulimia nervosa (BN) , binge eating disorder (BED) , and MD to the medical records of male veterans treated in Veterans Administration (VA) hospitals across the United States from 2000 to 2015. The study (Table 1) found a significant increase in psychiatric comorbidity compared to controls (C) .Table 1 Prevalence of Psychiatric Disorders for Eating Disorder and MD Cases and Controls in a National Sample of Male Veterans Treated at VA Hospitals from 2000 to 2015

-The most appropriate control subjects for the study described in the final paragraph would be:

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

11ecba2d_0c6a_7231_a3bf_7b8d06804802_MD0008_00 Control subjects provide a comparison group in experiments. The control subjects should be as similar as possible to the subjects of interest, except for the causal (independent) variable being studied. For example, in clinical trials controls are demographically similar to the treatment subjects (or those under evaluation) but do not receive any active medication or treatment. This study sought to determine whether a previous diagnosis of an eating disorder would predict other comorbid psychological disorders. The most appropriate control subjects should be similar to other subjects except with regard to the variable being studied. Therefore, the most appropriate control subjects for the study described in the passage are males who have never been diagnosed with an eating disorder. (Choice B) If the study described in the passage was looking at the rates of psychiatric comorbidity for males who had and had not received treatment for their eating disorder, then males who had never been treated for an eating disorder would be a good comparison group. (Choices C and D) Control subjects should be as similar to treatment subjects or the observational subjects of interest as possible. Comparing males with eating disorders to females who have never been diagnosed with or treated for an eating disorder would not be an effective comparison because two significant variables (sex and diagnosis/treatment) differ between the groups. Educational objective: Control subjects provide a useful comparison to the subjects of interest in a study. Control subjects should be as similar to the treatment subjects as possible, except for the variable of interest.