Key factors involved in the feeding and eating disorders among schizophrenic patients and non-clinical controls

Abstract

Factors associated with comorbidity of schizophrenia and feeding and eating disorders (FEDs) need to be precisely investigated due to their endocrine and cardiometabolic complications. Therefore, the present study was performed aiming to examine the prevalence of FEDs and its involved key factors among schizophrenic patients and non-clinical controlsIn this cross-sectional correlational study, a total of 268 Iranian participants (including 134 schizophrenic patients and 134 non-clinical controls) were selected through the convenient sampling method from people living in Zahedan, Iran. They were assessed using demographic information form, Eating Attitudes Test-26 Item (EAT-26), and Structured Clinical Interviews for DSM-5: Research Version.The findings of this study showed that almost one third of schizophrenic patients had FEDs that this prevalence was about 2.5 times that in non-clinical controls (32.1% vs. 12.7%, p<0.001). in schizophrenic patients, the results of regression analysis also revealed that higher scores of EAT-26 were associated with higher levels of anxiety, depression, and body mass index (BMI), Type 2 diabetes, tobacco smoking, earlier stages of disease, more severe psychotic symptoms, and taking atypical antipsychotics (R2=0.93, p˂0.001). Contrarily, no relationship was observed between the EAT-26 scores and both gender and different phases of schizophrenia.Clinicians need to assess the risk of FEDs during the entire course of schizophrenia, particularly in its earlier stages.It is necessary to address the role of key factors, such as anxiety, depression, BMI, Type 2 diabetes, tobacco smoking, severity of psychosis, category of antipsychotic medications in the modeling of eating pathology among schizophrenic patients.