Trastornos de la conducta alimentaria y ansiedad en estudiantes durante la pandemia por COVID-19: Un estudio transversal

Abstract

Introduction: The pandemic due to coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) has profoundly disrupted daily life worldwide, with profound negative effects on physical and mental health, primarily in the student population. Objetive: To determine the prevalence of eating disorder (ED) risk and anxiety levels in college students during the COVID-19 pandemic, explore the association of ED and anxiety with gender, age, semester, and educational program variables. Materials and methods: A descriptive cross-sectional correlational study was conducted in a non-probabilistic convenience sample of 572 students from a university in northwestern Mexico, with prior informed consent. An online questionnaire was designed using the Google Forms platform that included four identification questions, the Eating Attitudes Test 26 (EAT-26) instrument and the BAI Anxiety Inventory. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square test were calculated to explore the association between categorical variables and Odds ratio (OR) and confidence interval were calculated by logistic regression. Results: Given the cut-off point of 20 for the EAT-26, 20.1% of students were found to be at risk of developing ED. The risk was significantly higher in females (22.4%) compared to males (14.7%) (χ2(1) = 4.39; p < .001, Phi = -0.088). Moderate level of anxiety predominated in 32.2% of students and severe in 24.3%. The risk of ED may increase up to four times more if you have symptoms of anxiety (OR = 2.179; 95%CI: 1.20, 3.97). Conclusions: A significant portion of respondents presented risky eating behaviors associated in the levels of anxiety displayed during the pandemic.