Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) symptomatology among undergraduate university students of Bangladesh.

BACKGROUND

Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) is an obsessive-compulsive-related disorder causing clinically significant distress or impairment in functioning. The objective of this study was to assess the BDD symptoms and factors associated with BDD symptomatology among undergraduate students.

METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2019 to March 2020 in six different universities (3 private and 3 public) across Bangladesh. A total of 1204 undergraduate students were selected through the multistage sampling technique. The BDD-YBOCS tool was used to assess the BDD symptomatology.

RESULTS

Mild to moderate BDD symptoms was observed among 11.0 % participants, and 1.5 % had severe BDD symptoms. Around 58 % of participants had at least one body defect. Most embarrassments occurred due to acne (12.5 %), followed by thin hair (9.5 %) and scar marks (6.4 %). Males had significantly lower odds of having BDD symptomatology (OR = 0.394; 95%CI = 0.254-0.614) and Participants aged between 20 and 24 years had higher odds (OR = 4.639; 95%CI = 1.024-21.107). Studying in private universities had 1.7 times higher odds in comparison to the public universities (OR = 1.671, 95%CI = 1.052-2.656). Smokers were more prone to have BDD symptomatology than non-smokers (OR = 2.72; 95%CI = 1.571-4.709) and students who had body defects had higher odds (OR = 2.647; CI = 1.723-4.066) of BDD symptomatology.

CONCLUSION

The study has successfully revealed status and predictors of BDD symptomatology among university students. Further nationwide studies would be conducted to know the overall situation of Bangladesh.