The relationship between depression, anxiety, stress, sleep disorders, and eating disorders among medical students at Thai Binh University of Medicine and Pharmacy

Abstract

Objectives: To analyse the relationships between depression, anxiety, stress, sleep disorders, and eating disorders among first-year students at Thai Binh University of Medicine and Pharmacy in 2024 and 2025. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 394 students. The EAT-26, PSQI, and DASS-21 scales were used for accumulating data among the students. Results: Overweight and obese students were more likely to have eating disorders than non-overweight students (OR=3.21; 95% CI: 1.27-8.08). Mental health was associated with eating disorders. Specifically, students with symptoms of depression were 2.43 times more likely to have eating disorders than those without symptoms of depression, students with symptoms of anxiety had higher odds of eating disorders than those without anxiety (OR=2.29, 95% CI: 1.15-4.55), students experiencing stress had a 2.45-fold higher risk of eating disorders compared with stress-free students. In addition, sleep quality was also associated with eating, students with poor sleep quality had 2.83 times higher odds of eating disorders than those with good sleep quality. Conclusions: The presence, along with the severity of these factors, contributed to an increased risk of eating disorders.