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Table 2 Comparison of the prevalence of eating disorder behaviors in 1998 and 2008: results of Chi-Square Tests and multivariate logistic regressions

From: The changing demographic profile of eating disorder behaviors in the community

 

1998 (n = 3010)

2008 (n = 3034)

    
 

n(%)

n(%)

χ2

P

OR(95% CI)†

P

Objective binge eating

      

 Males

38 (2.6)

61 (4.1)

5.29

0.02

1.91 (1.17 – 3.10)

0.01

 Females

42 (2.7)

88 (5.7)

16.71

< 0.001

2.53 (1.61 – 3.96)

< 0.001

 Metropolitan

50 (2.4)

103 (4.6)

15.05

< 0.001

1.74 (1.15 – 2.64)

0.01

 Regional

30 (3.2)

46 (5.8)

6.82

0.01

1.95 (1.04 – 3.67)

0.04

 < median income

26 (2.3)

72 (5.7)

17.78

< 0.001

3.29 (1.88 – 5.77)c

< 0.001

 > median income

47 (3.3)

51 (4.4)

2.28

0.13

1.26 (0.83 – 1.92)

0.28

 15-24 years

20 (3.8)

43 (8.7)

10.31

0.00

2.81 (1.39 – 5.69)

0.00

 25-44 years

41 (3.6)

53 (5.3)

3.95

0.05

1.39 (0.86 – 2.23)

0.18

 ≥ 45 years

19 (1.4)

54 (3.5)

12.53

< 0.001

1.90 (1.04 – 3.46)

0.04

Extreme dieting

      

 Males

8 (0.5)

35 (2.4)

16.96

< 0.001

4.87 (2.14 – 11.09)a

< 0.001

 Females

38 (2.5)

66 (4.3)

7.69

0.01

1.69 (1.09 – 2.63)

0.02

 Metropolitan

27 (1.3)

73 (3.3)

18.27

< 0.001

2.76 (1.64 – 4.65)b

< 0.001

 Regional

19 (2.0)

28 (3.5)

3.69

0.06

1.25 (0.57 – 2.74))

0.57

 < median income

10 (0.9)

42 (3.4)

16.89

< 0.001

6.31 (2.64 – 15.08)c

< 0.001

 > median income

27 (1.9)

40 (3.5)

6.36

0.01

1.85 (1.13 – 3.05)

0.02

 15-24 years

19 (3.6)

22 (4.5)

0.43

0.51

1.67 (0.70 – 3.96)

0.25

 25-44 years

20 (1.7)

49 (4.9)

17.53

< 0.001

2.52 (1.46 – 4.37)

0.00

 ≥ 45 years

8 (0.6)

30 (1.9)

9.99

0.00

4.43 (1.68 – 11.70)

0.00

Purging

      

 Males

2 (0.1)

7 (0.5)

2.75

0.10

6.15 (1.22 – 31.10)a

0.03

 Females

26 (1.7)

23 (1.5)

0.21

0.65

0.93 (0.48 – 1.80)

0.83

 Metropolitan

17 (0.8)

22 (1.0)

0.32

0.57

1.59 (0.75 – 3.37)

0.23

 Regional

11 (1.2)

7 (0.9)

0.35

0.55

0.64 (0.13 – 3.18)

0.58

 < median income

9 (0.8)

14 (1.1)

0.62

0.43

4.28 (1.20 – 15.26)c

0.03

 > median income

15 (1.0)

8 (0.7)

0.91

0.34

0.80 (0.34 – 1.89)

0.61

 15-24 years

11 (2.1)

6 (1.2)

1.22

0.27

1.88 (0.42 – 8.33)

0.41

 25-44 years

14 (1.2)

9 (0.9)

0.49

0.49

0.55 (0.21 – 1.49)

0.24

 ≥ 45 years

3 (0.2)

14 (0.9)

5.70

0.02

9.48 (1.21 – 74.51)d

0.03

  1. OR odds ratio; † multivariate logistic regressions included age, education, income, body mass index, employment, and country of birth as covariates; athe OR was significantly greater for males than for females; bthe OR was marginally greater for metropolitan versus regional participants; cthe OR was significantly greater for participants below compared to above the median income level; dthe OR was significantly greater for participants aged over 44 years compared to those aged 25 – 44 years.