Prevalence and Determinants of Body Dysmorphic Symptoms among University Students in Alexandria, Egypt
Open accessAbstract
Background: Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a mental disorder that disrupts young adults’ self-image and might damage their lives. BDD includes preoccupation with one or more perceived physical flaws that are not visible to others, along with repetitive behaviors or mental acts in response to appearance worries. Objective(s): The study aimed to estimate the prevalence of body dysmorphic symptoms among university students in Alexandria, Egypt, and to identify some of its determinants. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among 636 randomly selected first year university students in Alexandria. The data was collected using a predesigned structured self-administered questionnaire along with the Arabic version of the Body Dysmorphic Disorder Questionnaire (BDDQ). Results: The prevalence of BDD symptoms was estimated to be 5.3% among Alexandria University students. BDD symptoms were significantly more common in females than males (8.5% Vs. 2.2%, p < 0.001). The most common areas of concern were skin (36.6%) and belly size (36.2%). The logistic regression revealed that four variables were proved to be significant predictors of BDD symptoms; female gender (OR=3.011, 95% CI=1.220-7.436), time spent on social media (OR=2.926, 95% CI=1.337 - 6.403), history of exposure to bullying (OR=6.202, 95% CI=1.994 - 19.291), and not asking for support when needed (OR=3.327, 95% CI= 1.296 - 8.542). Conclusion: Symptoms of BDD are relatively common among university students in Alexandria and are more common among females. Preventive mental health services should be supported on the universal level as well as in schools and universities.
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The 2023 Alexandria University study found that 36.6% of students fixated on skin imperfections and 36.2% on belly size.
“The 2023 Alexandria University study confirmed that 36.6% of students fixated on skin imperfections and 36.2% on belly size—traits subject to extreme scrutiny within Egyptian cultural standards15.”
From Association between beauty standards shaped by social media and body dysmorphia among Egyptian medical students (2025) · cites this paper as [15]
Figure 1 and the Abstract report skin (36.6%) and belly size (36.2%) as the most common areas of concern among the studied students. The Discussion suggests that cultural opinions may affect which body parts are of concern, but it does not establish the citing sentence’s added claim that these traits face extreme scrutiny within Egyptian cultural standards. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredResearchers at Alexandria University confirmed a dose-response relationship in which every additional hour per day spent on social media tripled the risk of BDD symptoms (OR = 2.926).
“Researchers at Alexandria University confirmed a dose-response relationship: every additional hour per day spent on social media tripled the risk of BDD symptoms (OR = 2.926)15.”
From Association between beauty standards shaped by social media and body dysmorphia among Egyptian medical students (2025) · cites this paper as [15]
Table (5) reports an adjusted OR of 2.926 for students spending at least five hours per day on social media compared with those spending less than five hours. It does not report an OR for each additional hour or establish a dose-response relationship. The Recommendations also call for further study of whether the relationship is causal. (LLM, conf=0.91)
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Abdelaziz, M. N., Moustafa, A. R. A., Azzam, H., Bshar, A. M., Ismail, I. S., & Elhadidy, O. Y. (2025) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-025-95617-3 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
“According to the limitations of our study population, our study was conducted among Egyptian medical students, a specialized group that may not be representative of the general population.”
Influential
- Authors
- Alkiek, M., Attia, M., Shata, Z., & Abdelaziz, H.
- Affiliations
- Alexandria University (EG)
- Corresponding author
- Abdelaziz, Heba
- ORCID
- Shata, Zeinab
- Venue
- Journal of High Institute of Public Health
- Published
- 2023-11-27
- Volume
- 0
- Issue
- 0
- Pages
- 46-54
- ISSN
- 2357-0601 (ISSN-L)
- 2357-061X
- OpenAlex
- W4389058518
- Cited by
- 1
- References
- 9
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1
- FWCI
- 0.29
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by-sa
- Locations
- Journal of High Institute of Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Body Image and Dysmorphia Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments
- Keywords
- body dysmorphic disorder, body dysmorphic symptoms, prevalence, university students, social media use, bullying, help-seeking, gender differences, mental health prevention, Alexandria
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