NIGHT EATING SYNDROME AMONG MEDICAL STUDENTS AND ITS CORRELATION WITH DEPRESSION IN KARACHI, PAKISTAN

Abstract

Background. Night eating syndrome is common practice in the community. The purpose of this study is to determine the prevalence of night eating syndrome among medical students and its correlation with depression at a public sector medical university in Karachi, Pakistan. Methodology. It is a cross sectional study and the participants were selected by using multi-stage cluster sampling. Night Eating Syndrome Questionnaire (NES-Q) and Beck depression scale were used to determine the night eating syndrome and depression. Students of age group between 20 and 25 years were included. Comparison of night eating syndrome and depression between groups of students was determined through chi square and Mann-Whitney U test. Spearmen correlation was used to determine the correlation of night eating syndrome with depression. P value <0.05 was considered significant. Results. The mean age of participants was 21.48±4.08 years. Among students 49.36% and 27.84% were suffering from night eating syndrome and depression respectively (p < 0.05). Students were suffering form night eating syn-drome had significantly higher Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) score compared to Non NEQ group with p value 0.03. A significant correlation was found between night eating syndrome scores and Beck depression inventory scale with p value was ≤ 0.05. Conclusions. Results of this study found that medical students had high prevalence rate of night eating syndrome and depression. Depression was found to be a predictor of night eating syndrome.

Keywords

• nighttime eating
• obesity
• medical students
• gender