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327607

Prevalence and Determinants of Body Dysmorphic Symptoms among University Students in Alexandria, Egypt

Article

Last updated: 03 Jan 2025

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Abstract

Background: Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a mental disorder that disrupts young adults' self-image and might damage their lives. BDD includes preoccupation with one or more perceived physical flaws that are not visible to others, along with repetitive behaviors or mental acts in response to appearance worries. Objective(s): The study aimed to estimate the prevalence of body dysmorphic symptoms among university students in Alexandria, Egypt, and to identify some of its determinants. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among 636 randomly selected first year university students in Alexandria. The data was collected using a predesigned structured self-administered questionnaire along with the Arabic version of the Body Dysmorphic Disorder Questionnaire (BDDQ). Results: The prevalence of BDD symptoms was estimated to be 5.3% among Alexandria University students. BDD symptoms were significantly more common in females than males (8.5% Vs. 2.2%, p < 0.001). The most common areas of concern were skin (36.6%) and belly size (36.2%). The logistic regression revealed that four variables were proved to be significant predictors of BDD symptoms; female gender (OR=3.011, 95% CI=1.220-7.436), time spent on social media (OR=2.926, 95% CI=1.337 - 6.403), history of exposure to bullying (OR=6.202, 95% CI=1.994 - 19.291), and not asking for support when needed (OR=3.327, 95% CI= 1.296 - 8.542). Conclusion: Symptoms of BDD are relatively common among university students in Alexandria and are more common among females. Preventive mental health services should be supported on the universal level as well as in schools and universities.

DOI

10.21608/jhiph.2023.327607

Keywords

body dysmorphic disorder, Alexandria University students, Self-image

Authors

First Name

Mai

Last Name

Alkiek

MiddleName

B.

Affiliation

Fellow of Department of Family Health, High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University, Egypt

Email

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City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

Medhat

Last Name

Attia

MiddleName

S.

Affiliation

Department of Family Health, High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University, Egypt

Email

mattia22@hotmail.com

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

Zeinab

Last Name

Shata

MiddleName

N.

Affiliation

Department of Family Health, High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University, Egypt

Email

zeinab.shata@yahoo.com

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

Heba

Last Name

Abdelaziz

MiddleName

A. Abdelaziz

Affiliation

Department of Family Health, High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University, Egypt

Email

hiph.hebamahmoud@alexu.edu.eg

City

Alexandria

Orcid

0000-0003-0174-9227

Volume

53

Article Issue

2

Related Issue

45050

Issue Date

2023-08-01

Receive Date

2023-11-27

Publish Date

2023-08-01

Page Start

46

Page End

54

Print ISSN

2357-0601

Online ISSN

2357-061X

Link

https://jhiphalexu.journals.ekb.eg/article_327607.html

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https://jhiphalexu.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=327607

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1

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Original Article

Type Code

511

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Journal of High Institute of Public Health

Publication Link

https://jhiphalexu.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Prevalence and Determinants of Body Dysmorphic Symptoms among University Students in Alexandria, Egypt

Details

Type

Article

Created At

23 Dec 2024