Orthorexia nervosa in gay men - the result of a Spanish- Polish Eating Disorders Study

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), BMI (OR = 0.895), staying in an informal relationship compared to being single (OR = 2.138), occasional use of Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (OR = 4.667) and use of the Grindr application (OR = 5.312). Instagram users had lower risk of ON (OR = 0.479). The multivariate analysis showed that Grindr usages (OR: 4.72; p< 0.001) correlated with higher risk of ON. Higher BMI (OR = 0.913) and daily use of Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (OR = 0.142) 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.