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

Introduction: Due to the 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, worldwide daily life has profoundly disrupted, 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. Additionally, to 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 considering as dependent variables risk of ED and presence of anxiety in the models. 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 anxiety symptoms are present (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.