title: Body Dysmorphic Disorder: gender differences and prevalence in a Pakistani medical student population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a psychiatric disorder characterized by a preoccupation with an imagined or slight defect which causes significant distress or impairment in functioning. Few studies have assessed gender differences in BDD in a non clinical population. Also no study assessed BDD in medical students. This study was designed to determine the point prevalence of BDD in Pakistani medical students and the gender differences in prevalence of BDD, body foci of concern and symptoms of BDD.
  
  
  METHODS
  The medical students enrolled in a medical university in Karachi, Pakistan filled out a self-report questionnaire which assessed clinical features of BDD. BDD was diagnosed according to the DSM-IV criteria.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Out of the 156 students, 57.1% were female. A total of 78.8% of the students reported dissatisfaction with some aspect of their appearance and 5.8% met the DSM-IV criteria for BDD. The male to female ratio for BDD was 1.7. Regarding gender differences in body foci of concern, the top three reported foci of concern in male students were head hair (34.3%), being fat (32.8%), skin (14.9%) and nose(14.9%), whereas in females they were being fat (40.4%), skin (24.7%) and teeth (18%). Females were significantly more concerned about being fat (p = 0.005). Male students were significantly more concerned about being thin (p = 0.01) and about head hair (p = 0.012).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  BDD is fairly common in our medical student population, with a higher prevalence in males. Important gender differences in BDD symptomatology and reported body foci of concern were identified which reflected the influence of media on body image perception. The impact of cultural factors on the prevalence as well as gender differences in BDD symptomatology was also established.
authors.affiliation: Medical College, The Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan. ather.taqui@gmail.com
authors.forename: Ather M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Taqui
authors.forename: Mehrine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shaikh
authors.forename: Saqib A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Gowani
authors.forename: Fatima
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Shahid
authors.forename: Asmatullah
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Syed M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Tayyeb
authors.forename: Minahil
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Satti
authors.forename: Talha
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vaqar
authors.forename: Saman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shahid
authors.forename: Afreen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shamsi
authors.forename: Hammad A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Ganatra
authors.forename: Haider A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Naqvi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001828:Body Image; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D050177:Overweight / Q000523:psychology; D010154:Pakistan; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D010555:Personality Inventory; D012744:Sex Ratio; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*