Exploring the Impact of COVID-19 on Individuals with Eating Disorders in Saudi Arabia: A Thematic Analysis.

Food and sleep are critical for human survival. However, for individuals with eating disorders, they face two critical disruptions in terms of abnormal feeding patterns as well as poor sleep. These difficulties are exacerbated as a result of the recent coronavirus pandemic, which caused drastic changes in daily life schedules and living arrangements. The current study therefore aims to explore, through qualitative means, how individuals with eating disorders are affected during the subsequent lockdowns, with a particular emphasis on the pandemic's impact on their sleep in Saudi Arabia. Two groups of participants were recruited: participants with eating disorders and healthy controls. Based on thematic analysis of focus group discussion data, it was found that both types of participants experienced poorer sleep and poorer mental health. Participants with eating disorders too showed a deterioration of their symptoms. However, healthy participants tended to show greater levels of recovery and coping. Based on the study findings, recommendations for future studies are made.

Exploring the Relationship between Disordered Sleep and Mood in Male Anorexia Nervosa: An Actigraphy Study.

Eating disorders (EDs), including anorexia nervosa (AN), are severe psychological disorders that affect individuals' eating behaviours and body perception. Previous research has shown that people with EDs often report poorer sleep. Some literature has suggested that it is mood dysregulation that mediates the link between EDs and sleep. However, the majority of previous studies only focused on females, while male ED patients have been overlooked. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the relationships between EDs, mood, and sleep among male ED patients. Using a mixture of actigraphy recordings and self-reported questionnaires, the current study analysed a total 33 adult male participants diagnosed with AN. The participants first wore an actigraphy device for seven continuous days, following which their ED severity and mood were assessed by the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS), respectively. The descriptive actigraphy results suggested that, similar to females, males with AN also showed disturbed sleep, including insomnia, sleep fragmentation, low sleep efficiency, and increased napping sessions. However, when ED severity was correlated against actigraphy data and mood, no significant relationships were found between them. Thus, it was suggested that future studies may investigate discrete ED symptoms instead of global ED severity interacting with sleep and mood. Overall, this study represents an initial step in the investigation of EDs and sleep and mood dysregulation among an under-represented sample.

Sleep Profiles in Eating Disorders: A Scientometric Study on 50 Years of Clinical Research.

Sleep and diet are essential for maintaining physical and mental health. These two factors are closely intertwined and affect each other in both timing and quality. Eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, are often accompanied by different sleep problems. In modern society, an increasing number of studies are being conducted on the relationship between eating disorders and sleep. To gain a more comprehensive understanding of this field and highlight influential papers as well as the main research domains in this area, a scientometric approach was used to review 727 publications from 1971 to 2023. All documents were retrieved from Scopus through the following string "TITLE-ABS (("sleep" OR "insomnia") AND ("anorexia nervosa" OR "bulimia nervosa" OR "binge eating" OR "eating disorder*") AND NOT "obes*") AND (LIMIT-TO (LANGUAGE, "English"))". A document co-citation analysis was applied to map the relationship between relevant articles and their cited references as well as the gaps in the literature. Nine publications on sleep and eating disorders were frequently cited, with an article by Vetrugno and colleagues on nocturnal eating being the most impactful in the network. The results also indicated a total of seven major thematic research clusters. The qualitative inspection of clusters strongly highlights the reciprocal influence of disordered eating and sleeping patterns. Researchers have modelled this reciprocal influence by taking into account the role played by pharmacological (e.g., zolpidem, topiramate), hormonal (e.g., ghrelin), and psychological (e.g., anxiety, depression) factors, pharmacological triggers, and treatments for eating disorders and sleep problems. The use of scientometric perspectives provides valuable insights into the field related to sleep and eating disorders, which can guide future research directions and foster a more comprehensive understanding of this important area.

The Presentation of Eating Disorders in Saudi Arabia.

Objective: There is lack of information on the presentation of eating disorders (EDs) in Saudi Arabia using gold standard clinical tools. The present study aimed to provide data on the presentation of EDs in Saudi Arabia using clinically validated measures. Method: Hundred and thirty-three individuals (33 male) with a mean age of 22 years (2.63) completed three measures: the Eating Disorder Examination (EDE), a semi-structured interview, the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q), a self-report measure, and the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) to measure comorbid symptoms. Results: Individuals in Saudi Arabia reported higher levels of restraint, eating concern and shape concern and a higher global score, but lower levels of weight concern on the EDE-Q compared to the EDE. Female participants reported a higher global score, alongside significantly higher scores on the restraint, shape concern and weight concern subscales than males. The most common ED subtype was other specific feeding or ED. Compared with Western community samples, symptom severity in this purposive sample obtained from community settings was significantly higher in this sample. Discussion: Individuals with eating, weight and shape concerns in Saudi Arabia may feel more comfortable expressing their symptoms on a self-report tool compared with a face to face interview. However, it is possible that a self-report measure may over-estimate the severity of symptoms. The data suggest that clinicians in Saudi Arabia should regularly screen for EDs in all genders. It is also important to note that ED symptoms are a cause for concern in young people in Saudi Arabia.