Orthorexia nervosa in gay men—the result of a spanish-polish eating disorders study

Abstract

Abstract Background The purpose of this exploratory study was to identifying demographic factors and unique predictors of ON e.g., the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), the use of social media and the Grindr ® dating application among a sample group of Spanish and Polish identifying gay men. Methods The study was conducted in Poland and Spain between March and June 2021 using questionary: ORTO-15. Data was collected using a three-section self-administered questionnaire. The first section contained demographic data, the second part was the Polish and Spanish version of the Orto-15, and the third part was the Polish and Spanish version of the EAT-26. Results Total enrollment was 394 gay men. In regression proportional hazards single model, significant predictors of ON were: age (OR = 0.964, 95% CI, 0.944–0.984), BMI (OR = 0.895, 95% CI, 0.848–0.944), staying in an informal relationship compared to being single (OR = 2.138, 95%CI, 1.225–3.732), occasional use of Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (OR = 4.667, 95%CI, 1.186–18.362) and use of the Grindr application (OR = 5.312, 95%CI, 3.373–8.365). Instagram users had lower risk of ON (OR = 0.479, 95%CI, 0.279–0.822). The multivariate analysis showed that Grindr usages (OR = 4.72; 95%CI, 2.89–7.72) correlated with higher risk of ON. Higher BMI (OR = 0.913, 95%CI, 0.861–0.98) and daily use of Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (OR = 0.142, 95%CI, 0.03–0.674) is associated with lower risk of ON. Conclusions The most important predictors of orthorexia nervosa in gay men are: low BMI and the use of Grindr. The effect of daily usage of PrEP is associated with lower risk, and occasional use is associated with increased risk, of orthorexia nervosa.

Keywords

• Orthorexia nervosa
• Eating disorders
• Gay
• Stigma
• PrEP