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Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD): Prevalence in the general population of Pakistan and its association with social media usage
- S. Azeem, A. Liaquat, Z. Huda, B. Mustafa, N. Iqbal, A. S. Ahmad, M. Adil, A. Ellahi, S. M. A. Jahangeer Al’Saani
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- Journal:
- European Psychiatry / Volume 66 / Issue S1 / March 2023
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 19 July 2023, pp. S230-S231
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- Article
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Introduction
Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) is a psychiatric, obsessive-compulsive disorder characterized by persistent, pre-occupying, intrusive thoughts regarding defects in one’s physical appearance. This leads to potentially harmful behaviors such as constant mirror checking, avoiding socialization, and the need to seek constant validation. The recent increase in social media usage and influence, especially the use of photo-editing apps, has been correlated with a steep decline in body satisfaction due to the perpetuation of unrealistic beauty standards.
ObjectivesThis study aimed to determine the current prevalence of BDD in the general population of Pakistan and assess the association of BDD with social media usage.
MethodsA descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from August 2022 to October 2022 on the general population of Pakistan using an online self-administered, anonymous, pretested questionnaire. It contained socio-demographic factors (age, gender, marital status, educational discipline, and household income). Participants were screened for BDD using a pre-tested Body Dysmorphic Disorder Questionnaire (BDDQ) modified to fit the revised DSM-5 criteria. They were further asked about the specifics of the defects they were concerned about, and whether or not they compared their appearance with people online. Characteristics of social media use such as the types of applications used and time spent on them were also asked. Data was analyzed using SPSS v.26.
ResultsOut of 779 participants, 5.3% (41) screened positive for BDD. The most repeated behaviors in BDD-positive participants were a comparison of how they looked with other people and checking themselves in the mirror to see how they look. Their most common defect of concern was skin (acne, scars, wrinkles, paleness, redness) followed by the shape or size of the nose, mouth, jaws, or lips. There was a significant association between age and BDD diagnosis (p < 0.001) and between the tendency to compare themselves with people online and BDD diagnosis (p = 0.001). However, no statistically significant differences were found in the BDD-positive and negative groups concerning gender, the number of social media applications used, or time spent on social media.
ConclusionsThere is a need to educate the public about the risk of BDD, especially the more susceptible age, and promote safe social networking. Counseling about the harmful effects of social media could be helpful. This is the first study of its kind done on the Pakistani population and one of the few studies that exist on this topic worldwide. Hence, to reach a conclusive decision, there is a dire need to carry out similar investigations with larger sample sizes and on populations that have yet not been studied.
Disclosure of InterestNone Declared
A systematic review on modelling approaches for economic losses studies caused by parasites and their associated diseases in cattle
- Muhammad Rashid, Muhammad Imran Rashid, Haroon Akbar, Liaquat Ahmad, Muhammad Adeel Hassan, Kamran Ashraf, Khalid Saeed, Mohamed Gharbi
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- Journal:
- Parasitology / Volume 146 / Issue 2 / February 2019
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 02 August 2018, pp. 129-141
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Parasites reside inside or outside their hosts and get host nutrition and blood. Here, we have emphasized economic losses in cattle caused by parasitic diseases due to ecto- and endo- parasites (flies, ticks, mites and helminths). We have outlined different methods/models including economic evaluation techniques and dynamic analysis as a major class, used for the calculation of economic losses caused by parasites in cattle. According to already conducted studies, a decrease in production is mentioned in quantity and percentage while financial losses are expressed in the form of account with respect to per head, herd or for the specific study area. The parasites cause the reduced production and financial losses due to control, treatment and mortality costs. We calculated the average decrease in milk production and organ condemnation as 1.16 L animal−1 day−1 and 12.95%, respectively, from overall cattle parasitic infections. Moreover, the average calculated financial and percentage losses were US$ 50.67 animal−1 year−1 and 17.94%, respectively. Economically important parasitic diseases mentioned here are caused by specific spp. of protozoans and helminths according to data collected from the literature. Protozoan diseases include tick-borne diseases, coccidiosis, neosporosis, trypanosomiasis and cryptosporidiosis. Losses due to tick-borne infections were encountered for decreased milk production, mortality, treatment and control. Losses from coccidiosis were due to decreased weight gain, treatment costs and mortality. While abortion losses were encountered in neosporosis. Trypanosomiasis caused losses due to a decrease in milk yield. Moreover, only diagnostic (conventional or molecular techniques) cost was taken into account for cryptosporidiosis. Economically important nematode parasites are Oesophagostomum spp., Cooperia spp., Trichostrongylus spp., Strongyloides spp., Ostertagia spp. and Haemonchus placei. Due to the zoonotic importance of echinococcosis, Echinococcus granulosus is the most economically important cestode parasite. Losses caused by echinococcosis were due to organ condemnation, carcass weight loss and decreases hide value, milk production and fecundity. While, fascioliasis is one of the most economically important trematodal disease, which causes cirrhosis of the liver due to parasite migration, and thus, the organ becomes inedible. So, it would be helpful for farmers and researchers to approach these methods/models for calculation of parasitic losses and should adopt suitable measures to avoid long-term economic losses.