Eating disorders in medical students: prevalence, risk factors, comparison with the general population
ObjectivesThe main objectives were to investigate the prevalence of ED and associated risk factors among medical students in Romania, as well as to determine which variables may predict ED and to explore the differences between medical students and the general population.MethodsThe Eating Disorders...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-01-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1515084/full |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1841556728969166848 |
|---|---|
| author | Raluca Motorga Mihaela Ionescu Florina Nechita Daniela Micu Iulia Băluțoiu Maria Mădălina Dinu Dan Nechita |
| author_facet | Raluca Motorga Mihaela Ionescu Florina Nechita Daniela Micu Iulia Băluțoiu Maria Mădălina Dinu Dan Nechita |
| author_sort | Raluca Motorga |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ObjectivesThe main objectives were to investigate the prevalence of ED and associated risk factors among medical students in Romania, as well as to determine which variables may predict ED and to explore the differences between medical students and the general population.MethodsThe Eating Disorders Inventory questionnaire (EDI-3) was applied. Also, the body mass index of the students was calculated, socio-demographic information regarding personal and family medical history was collected (mental and chronic diseases, self-reported sleep difficulties in the past 6 months, family history of obesity) and potentially risky events (history of ridicule, major negative events, social pressure to be thin from family, friends, media).Results37.1% students are at risk of eating disorders, 41% females and 23% males, according to the EDI-3. 14.42% were underweight, 65.05% normal weight, 16.99% overweight and 3.53% obese. Compared to the nationally representative sample in Romania, medical students had significantly higher scores for ED risk and for all other psychological factors.ConclusionMedical students have a high risk of developing ED, even higher than the general population. Several factors were associated with the ED risk, including female gender, experiencing sleeping difficulties, feelings of ridicule, family pressure and media pressure, prior ED history, high BMI, negative events and family history of mental illness. The regression analysis showed that family pressure is a strong predictor for ED risk. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-82001c2eea244247b004ba2a1d1a62de |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj-art-82001c2eea244247b004ba2a1d1a62de2025-01-07T06:40:48ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782025-01-011510.3389/fpsyg.2024.15150841515084Eating disorders in medical students: prevalence, risk factors, comparison with the general populationRaluca Motorga0Mihaela Ionescu1Florina Nechita2Daniela Micu3Iulia Băluțoiu4Maria Mădălina Dinu5Dan Nechita6Department of Behavioral Sciences, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Craiova, RomaniaDepartment of Medical Informatics and Biostatistics, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Craiova, RomaniaDepartment of Behavioral Sciences, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Craiova, RomaniaDepartment of Foreign Languages, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Craiova, RomaniaDepartment of Behavioral Sciences, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Craiova, RomaniaDepartment of Behavioral Sciences, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Craiova, RomaniaDepartment of Behavioral Sciences, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Craiova, RomaniaObjectivesThe main objectives were to investigate the prevalence of ED and associated risk factors among medical students in Romania, as well as to determine which variables may predict ED and to explore the differences between medical students and the general population.MethodsThe Eating Disorders Inventory questionnaire (EDI-3) was applied. Also, the body mass index of the students was calculated, socio-demographic information regarding personal and family medical history was collected (mental and chronic diseases, self-reported sleep difficulties in the past 6 months, family history of obesity) and potentially risky events (history of ridicule, major negative events, social pressure to be thin from family, friends, media).Results37.1% students are at risk of eating disorders, 41% females and 23% males, according to the EDI-3. 14.42% were underweight, 65.05% normal weight, 16.99% overweight and 3.53% obese. Compared to the nationally representative sample in Romania, medical students had significantly higher scores for ED risk and for all other psychological factors.ConclusionMedical students have a high risk of developing ED, even higher than the general population. Several factors were associated with the ED risk, including female gender, experiencing sleeping difficulties, feelings of ridicule, family pressure and media pressure, prior ED history, high BMI, negative events and family history of mental illness. The regression analysis showed that family pressure is a strong predictor for ED risk.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1515084/fulleating disordersmedical studentssocial/family pressureBMIsleepthin body |
| spellingShingle | Raluca Motorga Mihaela Ionescu Florina Nechita Daniela Micu Iulia Băluțoiu Maria Mădălina Dinu Dan Nechita Eating disorders in medical students: prevalence, risk factors, comparison with the general population Frontiers in Psychology eating disorders medical students social/family pressure BMI sleep thin body |
| title | Eating disorders in medical students: prevalence, risk factors, comparison with the general population |
| title_full | Eating disorders in medical students: prevalence, risk factors, comparison with the general population |
| title_fullStr | Eating disorders in medical students: prevalence, risk factors, comparison with the general population |
| title_full_unstemmed | Eating disorders in medical students: prevalence, risk factors, comparison with the general population |
| title_short | Eating disorders in medical students: prevalence, risk factors, comparison with the general population |
| title_sort | eating disorders in medical students prevalence risk factors comparison with the general population |
| topic | eating disorders medical students social/family pressure BMI sleep thin body |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1515084/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ralucamotorga eatingdisordersinmedicalstudentsprevalenceriskfactorscomparisonwiththegeneralpopulation AT mihaelaionescu eatingdisordersinmedicalstudentsprevalenceriskfactorscomparisonwiththegeneralpopulation AT florinanechita eatingdisordersinmedicalstudentsprevalenceriskfactorscomparisonwiththegeneralpopulation AT danielamicu eatingdisordersinmedicalstudentsprevalenceriskfactorscomparisonwiththegeneralpopulation AT iuliabalutoiu eatingdisordersinmedicalstudentsprevalenceriskfactorscomparisonwiththegeneralpopulation AT mariamadalinadinu eatingdisordersinmedicalstudentsprevalenceriskfactorscomparisonwiththegeneralpopulation AT dannechita eatingdisordersinmedicalstudentsprevalenceriskfactorscomparisonwiththegeneralpopulation |