Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Young doctors in training are considered a population at risk for developing eating disorders. These disorders have multifactorial origins and require early and rapid screening, often utilizing the SCOFF questionnaire. Our aim is to screen and identify factors associated with the development of eating disorders among medical residents.

Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional, descriptive, and analytical study involving 70 medical residents working at Hedi Chaker University Hospital in Sfax over a 2-month period: November and December 2023. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to our population using the Google Forms application.

Results: The average age of our population was 28 years, with a clear female predominance and a sex ratio of 0.55. Eating disorders were present in 27% of our population. Within our sample, 10% of medical residents had a history of psychiatric disorders, especially depression, and 79% used psychoactive substances, particularly coffee. Among participants, 56% engaged in weight control methods, especially through dietary habits and exercise. Psycho-affective consequences were observed, with 20% of the studied population showing symptoms of anxiety, and 10% exhibiting depressive symptoms. Among the factors studied, the use of weight control methods, the use of psychoactive substances, and anxiety were significantly associated with the risk of developing an eating disorder (P-value less than 0.05). Other factors were investigated, but they were not significantly related to the risk of eating disorders, such as gender, marital status, socioeconomic status, and depression.

Conclusion: The results of our study underscore the importance of screening for eating disorders in young doctors undergoing training. Additionally, socio-cultural, clinical, and psychological factors were associated with the risk of developing eating disorders in our population.