Eating disorders among medical students

Abstract

Introduction. Eating disorders lead to multiple somatic and psychiatric complications, thus affecting the quality of life of the general population. According to data published by NEDA (national eating disorders association), the prevalence of eating disorders increased from 3.5% to 7.8% between 2000 and 2018. In a nationally representative study in the US, up to 23% of people with Binge Eating Disorder attempted suicide, and almost all (94%) reported mental health symptoms in their life: 70 % mood disorders, 68% substance use disorders, 59% anxiety disorders, 49% borderline personality disorder, and 32% posttraumatic stress disorder. A meta-analysis found that atypical anorexia nervosa (AN) occurs more frequently than anorexia nervosa in community samples, however, fewer people with AAN are referred or admitted to specialty care for eating disorders. Aim of study. The purpose of the research is to identify the socio-determining factors in the appearance of the eating disorders among medical students, to study the incidence, Methods and materials. In order to achieve the proposed goal, the specialized scientific publications were analyzed, and also using the databases Google Search, Google Scholar and PubMed aiming at the studied problem. The articles published during the years 2011-2021 were selected as a filter, so 8,060 articles were found that address the topic "Eating disorders", “Medical students”. Results. For nutritional disorders such as overweight, the prevalence among males (30%) had a net predominance (p<0.001) over females (4.4%), while for underweight, it was prevalent only for female students (20.3%). Overweight was associated with low academic performance (odds ratio (OR)=7.2; 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 1-53.94), smoking (OR=2.4; 95% CI: 1-5.76) and binge drinking (OR=3; 95% CI: 1.26-7.25). We found a negative correlation between the number of sleeping hours per night and personal alienation (r = -.271, p = .015). The more hours the students sleep per night, the lower they score on personal alienation. Students who snack during nights have lower scores on body dissatisfaction (M = 7.48) compared to those who don`t (M = 10.83). Conclusion. This study elucidated the importance of medical students' eating habits. The factors that lead to the appearance of ED are sleep, alcohol, diets, fast food, stress, smoking. The issue of adjusting study hours with lunch breaks and snacks must be put on the forefront by universities to ensure a healthy living environment for students. In the same way, the psychological counseling of these students is important.