Prevalence of eating disorders in elite athletes is higher than in the general population
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The objectives of the study were to examine the prevalence of anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), anorexia athletica (AA), and eating disorders not otherwise specified (ED-NOS) in both male and female Norwegian elite athletes and a representative sample from the general Norwegian population.
DESIGN: A 2-step study including self-reported questionnaire and clinical interview.
SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: The entire population of Norwegian male and female elite athletes (n=1620) and controls (n=1696) was evaluated for the presence of eating disorders (EDs).
MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENT: Based on the results of the questionnaire, all athletes and controls classified as at risk for EDs, and a representative sample of athletes and controls classified as healthy participated in the clinical part of the study to determine the number of subjects meeting the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV criteria for EDs.
RESULTS: More athletes (13.5%) than controls (4.6%; P<0.001) had subclinical or clinical EDs. The prevalence of EDs among male athletes was greater in antigravitation sports (22%) than in ball game (5%) and endurance sports (9%; P<0.05). The prevalence of EDs among female athletes competing in aesthetic sports (42%) was higher than that observed in endurance (24%), technical (17%), and ball game sports (16%).
CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of EDs is higher in athletes than in controls, higher in female athletes than in male athletes, and more common…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a case-control, done in people. Its evidence level is 4 of 5 (Low · observational). Observational designs can show an association but not prove cause. Reported size: 1,696 participants or records.
Read the paper
Related studies
- The Matrisome: In Silico Definition and In Vivo Characterization by Proteomics of Normal and Tumor Extracellular Matrices
- The Escherichia coli MG1655 in silico metabolic genotype: Its definition, characteristics, and capabilities
- In silico pharmacology for drug discovery: methods for virtual ligand screening and profiling
- In silico prediction of splice-altering single nucleotide variants in the human genome
- In silico clinical trials: how computer simulation will transform the biomedical industry
- In silico optimization of a guava antimicrobial peptide enables combinatorial exploration for peptide design
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.