exudates and Anorexia-Nervosa

Eating disorders (EDs) are debilitating health conditions and common across cultures. Recent reports suggest that about 14.0% of university students in Malaysia are at risk for developing an ED, and that prevalence may differ by ethnicity and gender. However, less is known about the prevalence of EDs in nonuniversity populations.. The current study seeks to (1) estimate the prevalence of EDs and ED risk status among adults in Malaysia using an established diagnostic screen; (2) examine gender and ethnic differences between ED diagnostic/risk status groups; and (3) characterize the clinical profile of individuals who screen positive for an ED.. We administered the Stanford-Washington University Eating Disorder Screen, an online ED screening tool, to adults in Malaysia in September 2020.. ED risk/diagnostic categories were assigned to 818 participants (ages 18-73 years) of which, 0.8% screened positive for anorexia nervosa, 1.4% for bulimia nervosa, 0.1% for binge-ED, 51.4% for other specified feeding or ED, and 4.8% for avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder. There was gender parity in the high risk and the overall ED categories. The point prevalence of positive eating pathology screening among Malays was significantly higher than Chinese but no different from Indians.. This is the first study to estimate the prevalence of EDs using a diagnostic screen in a population-based sample of Malaysians. It is concerning that over 50% of Malaysians reported symptoms of EDs. This study highlights the need to invest more resources in understanding and managing eating pathology in Malaysia.. This study estimates the prevalence of EDs among adults in Malaysia using an online EDs screen. Over 50% of Malaysians report symptoms of EDs. The study highlights the need for more resources and funding to address this important public health issue through surveillance, prevention, and treatment of EDs in Malaysia.

Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Anorexia Nervosa; Binge-Eating Disorder; Bulimia Nervosa; Feeding and Eating Disorders; Humans; Malaysia; Middle Aged; Prevalence; Young Adult

Several questionnaires to screen for eating disorders have been validated in Malaysia. However, these tools are lengthy, and require specialist interpretation. The sick, control, one stone, fat, food (SCOFF) is easy to administer by non-specialists, but has not been validated in Malaysia. Therefore, the aim of our study was to validate the SCOFF on a non-clinical sample of tertiary students to determine if it could identify individuals with an eating disorder.. We recruited second year tertiary students from five faculties in a university in Malaysia, from June-November 2014, who could understand English. The SCOFF and the EAT-26 were administered at baseline. Two weeks later, the SCOFF was re-administered to assess for reliability.. A total of 292 students were approached, and all agreed to participate (response rate = 100%). There was moderate correlation between the total SCOFF score with the EAT-26's dieting domain (spearman's rho = 0.504, p < 0.001), bulimia and food preoccupation domain (spearman's rho = 0.438, p < 0.001), and total score (spearman's rho = 0.483, p < 0.001). The internal consistency of the SCOFF was low (Cronbach alpha = 0.470). At retest, kappa scores ranged from 0.211 to 0.591. The sensitivity of the SCOFF was 77.4%, and its specificity was 60.5%. The positive predictive value was 18.9%, and its negative predictive value was 95.8%.. The SCOFF was found to have adequate convergent validity and stable reliability. However, its internal consistency was low. The SCOFF can still be used in clinical practice. However, its positive results should be interpreted with caution due to its low positive predictive value.

Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Anorexia Nervosa; Bulimia; Feeding and Eating Disorders; Female; Humans; Malaysia; Male; Reproducibility of Results; Sensitivity and Specificity; Students; Surveys and Questionnaires; Universities; Young Adult

Topics: Anorexia Nervosa; Body Image; Cross-Cultural Comparison; Developing Countries; Hong Kong; Humans; Malaysia

Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Anorexia Nervosa; Child; Female; Humans; Malaysia; Male