Suggestive behaviours of eating disorders in undergraduate female students: Prevalence and associated factors

Eating disorders are behavioral syndromes which diagnoses criteria have been widely studied during the last decades. Anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and partial syndromes stand out. Metabolic and electrolyte abnormalities and endocrine alterations can be present and many of them result from the weight loss and the purging behaviors seen in these patients. Early diagnosis and an adequate management of these complications are important to reduce the risks associated.
The objective of the study was to assess the prevalence of suggestive behaviors of eating disorders and associated factors, in undergraduate female students from a public university in the city of Rio de Janeiro, recently admitted to courses in the Biomedical Education and Humanities areas.
Cross-sectional study was conducted in 2004. The sample consisted of 512 students who answered a self-reported questionnaire based on the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26), Bulimic Investigatory Test of Edinburgh (BITE), used to investigate behaviors suggestive of anorexia and bulimia nervosa. It also included the General Health Questionnaire and questions about body image perception, leisure-time physical activity and nutritional evaluation. Ratios prevalences were estimated through Poisson regression.
 The mean age was 21.5 years old. Prevalences of 16.99% have been detected in the EAT-26, 25.00% in the BITE, and 33.40% in the joint analysis of both instruments. There was significant association between behavior suggestive of eating disorders and attending a course in the field of Education and Humanities (PR=1.41;CI 95%1.06-1.89), age between 17 and 20 years (PR=1.78;CI 95%1.01-3.14), and between 20 and 30 years old (PR=1.75;CI 95%1.01-3.04), self-perception of being overweight (PR=1.84;CI 95%1.39-2.42), and presence of common mental disorder (PR=1.42;CI 95%1.01-1.83).
These results showed that educational actions for control and prevention of eating behavior suggestive of eating disorder among undergraduate female students must be fostered.
Keywords:  Anorexia nervosa, Bulimia nervosa, Eating disorders, Prevalence studies, Risk factors.