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Prevalence and related factors of eating disorders in pregnancy: a systematic review and meta-analysis

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Abstract

Purpose

To reveal the prevalence of eating disorders (EDs) and related factors in pregnancy.

Methods

The search was performed in PubMed, EBSCOhost, Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Ovid databases search up to April 3, 2022, using the keywords combination of "(eating disorders OR anorexia nervosa OR bulimia nervosa OR binge eating disorder) AND (pregnancy OR pregnant)". Two researchers independently extracted data from the articles using a standard form. We evaluated the quality of the studies according to the Joanna Briggs Institute assessment tools.

Results

The prevalence of EDs in pregnant women in the 11 studies involving 2,369,520 pregnant women was ranging between 0.5 and 10.6%. The prevalence of EDs in pregnant women was 4.3% (95% confidence interval 2%–9%; I2 = 99.5%). The prevalence of anorexia nervosa and binge eating disorder during pregnancy shows a statistically significant increase compared to pre-pregnancy, and the prevalence of bulimia nervosa during pregnancy decreases. The prevalence of EDs is higher in pregnant women under 30 years of age, secondary school graduates, married, and with normal BMI. Half of the pregnant women with EDs had anxiety and about one-third of pregnant women had depression. Excessive exercise is observed in 0.7% of pregnant women, fasting in 0.3%, laxative or diuretic use in 0.1%, and self-induced vomiting in 0.6%.

Conclusions

This study is important as it is the first systematic review and meta-analysis to reveal the global prevalence of EDs in pregnant women and related factors. Continuing routine screening tests to detect EDs during pregnancy may contribute to taking special preventive measures for risk groups and protecting mother–child health.

Trial registration

PROSPERO registration number (CRD42022324721), date of registration: 10/05/2022.

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Data availability

As this study is a meta-analysis of previous data, no new data were generated in support of this research.

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Funding

The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatric Nursing, Fethiye Faculty of Health Sciences, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, Muğla, Turkey

    Pınar Çiçekoğlu Öztürk

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Afyonkarahisar Health Sciences University, Afyon, Turkey

    Ayşe Taştekin Ouyaba

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  1. Pınar Çiçekoğlu Öztürk
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study's conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by PÇÖ and ATO. The first draft of the manuscript was written by ATO and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Pınar Çiçekoğlu Öztürk.

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Appendix

Appendix

See Tables 2 and 3.

Table 2 PRISMA 2020 checklist
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Table 3 Characteristics of the studies
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Çiçekoğlu Öztürk, P., Taştekin Ouyaba, A. Prevalence and related factors of eating disorders in pregnancy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Arch Gynecol Obstet 309, 397–411 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-023-07051-3

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