Occurrence of Body Dysmorphic Disorder among Undergraduate Nursing Students and their Socio-Demographic Correlates: A Cross Sectional Survey

Presence of psychological and psychiatric morbidities among medical and nursing students has been reported in various studies conducted across the world. Indian scenarios amenable to these studies are very few or not reported much. Therefore, the presence of disorders which are not much interested by researchers must be put in front of light. Aim: To identify the presence of Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) among undergraduate nursing students in SreeGokulam Nursing College, Trivandrum, using previously tested and validated instruments BDD-YBOCS and their socio demographic correlates. Materials and Methods: In this cross sectional survey using quantitative approach, a previously tested standardized instrument BDD-YBOCS and a socio demographic proforma was used to collect information from 195 nursing undergraduates in SreeGokulam Nursing College, Trivandrum in the year 2015. The subjects available on the day of survey were asked to complete the questionnaire after getting the informed written consent. Findings: Around 7.7 % were affected with Body dysmorphic disorder, 60% of them were distressed at some point of time due to any sort of body defects related to skin, hair and appearance. No association was found with BDD and selected socio demographic variables. Comparing to previously conducted studies in western countries this study revealed an increasing percentage of occurrences of Body dysmorphic disorder among students. BDD is a disorder that doesn’t grabbed attention of researchers yet.