Orthorexia and perceived stress by medical students: which association?

Abstract

Introduction

Orthorexia is a neuotic behavior characterized by an obsession with healthy eating. This trend is growing among medical students; it may be related to the stress experienced by these young people.

Objectives

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of orthorexic eating behaviors among medical students in Tunisia and to examine the relationship with perceived stress.

Methods

Our study was descriptive and analytical cross-sectional, carried out with medical students in the faculty of medicine of sfax (Tunisia) during October 2022.

An anonymous survey was asked to the students.

Data collection was done by a self-administered questionnaire via Google Forms administered in the students’ Facebook groups. The questionnaire was composed of a part for the collection of socio-demographic data and two psychometric scales :

-The ORTO-15 was used to assess orthorexia

- Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) to determine the level of stress

Results

Atotal of 95 responses was collected.The average age of our samplewas 25.8±3.4 with sex ratio M/F=0,25.Tobacco and alcohol usewere found in 14.7% and 13.6% of casesrespectively.A psychiatric history was reported by 17.9% of students, 76.5% of whom are anxiety disorders.Average body mass index was 23.64 ± 3.53 kg/m2. More than half (58%)of the students were dissatisfied with their feed. In our sample, 8.4% of students have already consulted a nutritionist and 58.9% regularly practiced sport at gym.According to the ORTO 15, 52.6% of the students presented orthorexia. The mean score of the ORTO-15 was 39.19±4.48.According to PSS scores, 21.1% of students had severe level of stress, 69.5% had moderate stress level while 9.5% had low level of stress.Severe stress was significantly correlated with female gender and psychiatric follow (p=0.047), (p=0.001) respectively.Orthorexia was significantly correlated with the practice of sport (p=0.042).Orthorexics students had a higher level of stress without significant correlations.

Conclusions

Our study showed significant frequencies of orthorexia and a considerable level of stress among medical students. A high level of stress was observed in these orthorexic students. Further studies should be conducted to better investigate this relationship in order to promote student mental health

Disclosure of Interest

None Declared