ABSTRACT
AIM: To validate a questionnaire for the diagnosis of orhorexia oervosa, an eating disorder defined as "maniacal obsession for healthy food". MATERIALS AND METHODS: 525 subjects were enrolled. Then they were randomized into two samples (sample of 404 subjects for the construction of the test for the diagnosis of orthorexia ORTO-15; sample of 121 subjects for the validation of the test). The ORTO-15 questionnaire, validated for the diagnosis of orthorexia, is made-up of 15 multiple-choice items. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The test we proposed for the diagnosis of orthorexia (ORTO 15) showed a good predictive capability at a threshold value of 40 (efficacy 73.8%, sensitivity 55.6% and specificity 75.8%) also on verification with a control sample. However, it has a limit in identifying the obsessive disorder. For this reason we maintain that further investigation is necessary and that new questions useful for the evaluation of the obsessive-compulsive behavior should be added to the ORTO-15 questionnaire.
Subject(s)
Feeding Behavior/classification , Feeding and Eating Disorders/diagnosis , Health Behavior , Surveys and Questionnaires/standards , Adult , Humans , Italy , Predictive Value of Tests , Reference ValuesABSTRACT
AIM: To propose a diagnostic proceeding and to try to verify the prevalence of orthorexia nervosa (ON), an eating disorder defined as "a maniacal obsession for healthy foods". MATERIALS AND METHODS: 404 subjects were enrolled. Diagnosis of ON was based on both the presence of a disorder with obsessive-compulsive personality features and an exaggerated healthy eating behaviour pattern. RESULTS: Of the 404 subjects examined, 28 were found to suffer from ON (prevalence of 6.9%). The analysis of the physiological characteristics, the social-cultural and the psychological behaviour that characterises subjects suffering from ON shows a higher prevalence in men and in those with a lower level of education. The orthorexic subjects attribute characteristics that show their specific "feelings" towards food ("dangerous" to describe a conserved product, "artificial" for industrially produced products, "healthy" for biological produce) and demonstrate a strong or uncontrollable desire to eat when feeling nervous, excited, happy or guilty.
Subject(s)
Feeding and Eating Disorders/classification , Feeding and Eating Disorders/diagnosis , Health Behavior , Terminology as Topic , Adult , Anthropometry , Body Mass Index , Diagnosis, Differential , Energy Intake , Feeding and Eating Disorders/epidemiology , Female , Humans , Male , Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder/epidemiology , Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder/psychology , PrevalenceABSTRACT
The present study investigates how blood pressure (BP) circadian rhythm (CR) changes in its rhythmic properties as a function of chronological age in normotensive healthy subjects (NHS). The age-related trend for BP CR was investigated via the Clinospectror method, a periodic-linear analysis of regression for rhythmic parameters. The study was performed on 437 NHS (219 males and 218 females, ranging in age from 1 year to 102 years), who were monitored in their 24-h BP via a noninvasive automated recorder. An age-related trend was detected for the three properties of BP CR, i.e., mesor (M), amplitude (A) and acrophase (cent). Such a trend was positive for M and A, and negative for cent. According to the clinospectrometric formula, the BP CR can be classified as a "dianaclinous rhythm", i.e., a rhythm which increases in its oscillatory level and extent with advancing years. The documented age-related trend for the rhythmic properties suggests that the biological clock which regulates the BP CR in human beings undergoes a resetting of its mechanisms of tonic, amplitude and phasic modulation as a function of chronological age. The readjustment of the pressure clock may be regarded as one of the physiological features which characterize the aging process in human beings.
Subject(s)
Blood Pressure Determination/methods , Blood Pressure/physiology , Circadian Rhythm , Adolescent , Adult , Age Factors , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Infant , Male , Middle Aged , Reference ValuesABSTRACT
Using a 24 hour monitoring of the systo-diastolic blood pressure, 127 new born babies were studied in the first five days of life. 45 of these new born babies were premature (35 +/- 1 week) and 82 full-term. The results showed an overlap in the systo-diastolic blood pressure in the 2 groups of subjects with a rise and fall in pressure in the 24 hour period and no fall in pressure during the night typical to a healthy adult.
