Perceived Stress and Eating Behavior Among Residents in a Teaching Hospital

Overview

Journal J Family Med Prim Care

Specialty Public Health

Date 2022 Feb 9

PMID 35136766

Authors

Mohammed A Bin Mugren

Yousef A Al Turki

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to estimate the association between perceived stress and eating behavior among residents in a tertiary teaching hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Methods: A total of 305 residents were invited from seven major specialties in King Saud University Medical City to participate in this cross-sectional study, and among them, 214 completed the questionnaire between April 2019 and January 2020. The questionnaire evaluated stress and eating behavior using the 4-item Perceived Stress Scale and Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire, respectively. Moreover, items related to socio-demographic data, weekend coverage per month, night duties per month, fast food, snacks, and vegetables and fruits intake were included.

Results: We found a weak positive correlation at the significance level ( < 0.05) between the level of stress and both the clearly labeled emotions (0.184) and emotional eating (0.171). Furthermore, there was a significant effect of specialty, Wilk's Lambda =0.858, F (30, 814) =1.062, = 0.030. Among residents who performed 4 to 6-night duties per month, a significant correlation existed between stress and abnormal eating behaviors.

Conclusion: Our findings demonstrated a positive correlation between stress, night duties, and abnormal eating behaviors. Furthermore, the results suggested unhealthy dietary habits and food choices among residents.

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