Preliminary validation of the pica, ARFID and rumination disorder interview ARFID questionnaire (PARDI-AR-Q)

The Pica, ARFID, and Rumination Disorder Interview (PARDI) is a structured interview that can be used to determine diagnosis, presenting characteristics, and severity across three disorders, including avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of a questionnaire focused specifically on ARFID (PARDI-AR-Q), which has the potential to provide related information with less participant burden. Adolescents and adults (n = 71, ages 14–40 years) with ARFID (n = 42) and healthy control participants (HC, n = 29) completed the PARDI-AR-Q and other measures. A subset of the ARFID group (n = 27) also completed the PARDI interview. An exploratory factor analysis of proposed subscale items identified three factors corresponding to the ARFID phenotypes of avoidance based on the sensory characteristics of food, lack of interest in eating or food, and concern about aversive consequences of eating. Further analyses supported the internal consistency and convergent validity of the PARDI-AR-Q subscales, and subscale ratings on the questionnaire showed large and significant correlations (all p-values < 0.001; r’s ranging from 0.48 to 0.77) with the corresponding subscales on the interview. The ARFID group scored significantly higher than HC on all subscales. Furthermore, 90% of the ARFID group scored positive on the PARDI-AR-Q diagnostic algorithm while 93% of the HC scored negative. Though replication in larger and more diverse samples is needed, findings provide early support for the validity of the PARDI-AR-Q as a self-report measure for possible ARFID in clinical or research settings. Few measures are available for detecting avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) in clinics or research settings. This makes it difficult for individuals with the disorder to be identified and offered appropriate care. We developed the Pica, ARFID, and Rumination Disorder Interview ARFID Questionnaire (PARDI-AR-Q), a brief self-report measure of possible ARFID, and evaluated how well it worked in the current study. In our preliminary study of 71 adolescents and adults, most individuals with ARFID (90%) scored positive on this measure, whereas most healthy control participants (93%) scored negative. Our findings provide early support for the PARDI-AR-Q as a promising new measure for detecting possible ARFID when a full clinical interview is not possible.