Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Orthorexia (nervosa) is an eating disorder, characterised by an obsession with avoiding foods perceived to be unhealthy. Though it has not been recognised as a pathological entity in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – IV yet, interest in the condition has increased recently. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and risk factors of orthorexia in a group of diabetic patients.

Methods and design: 134 (63 female) diabetic patients who admitted to the outpatient clinic of our department were enrolled. Demographic information, educational status, diabetic history, care, and treatment, height, and weight of all cases were recorded. Ortho-15 Questionnaire was applied to all participants. Each patient can score minimum 15, maximum 60 points from this test. Those scoring 40 points and less are accepted to be orthorectic.

Results: The mean age of the group was 59.9±11.7 years. The Ortho-15 test revealed that the minimum score was 25, and the maximum 46 points. No relation was determined between educational status, BMI and presence of orthorexia. 15.5% of males and 11.1% of females were found to be orthorectic (P>0.05). The mean duration of diabetes of the whole group was 10.1±8.8 years and there was no relation between duration of diabetes and presence of orthorexia.

Conclusion: This study revealed that orthorexia was not frequent in this group of patients. Performing the test on larger groups making comparisons, may introduce different results.