Abdulwahab Ihdaa J, Khouja Jumana H, Alzahrani Noha A, Bargawi Amina
Preventive Medicine Department, Saudi Board of Preventive Medicine, King Abdulaziz Medical City Jeddah, Jeddah, SAU.
Preventive Medicine, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Jeddah, SAU.
Cureus. 2024 Dec 1;16(12):e74889. doi: 10.7759/cureus.74889. eCollection 2024 Dec.
Background Recently, social media has become an integral part of daily life, particularly among young adults. While these platforms offer numerous benefits, including communication, information sharing, and social connection, they have also been linked to a range of negative psychological consequences, including body image dissatisfaction. This study examined the prevalence of body dissatisfaction among health science students in Saudi Arabia, assessed the frequency and duration of social media use by gender, estimated the impact of social media use for >3 hours a day on body dissatisfaction, and identified the most commonly used social media platforms. Methodology Between December 2023 and June 2024, we conducted a cross-sectional study of students at King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, including all university colleges and branches in Jeddah, Riyadh, and Al-Ahsa. A survey was randomly sent to students' email addresses by the research unit of each college. Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests were used to test the association between two categorical variables. Results The 392 participants were between 18 and 25 years old; more than half (63%) were female and 95% were single. The majority (88%) were satisfied with their body image, whereas 11.2% were dissatisfied. Body dissatisfaction was significantly associated with gender (p = 0.038) and body mass index (p = 0.031). Approximately 87% reported spending ≤3 hours per day on social media, and 65% reported using social media six times or more. There were no associations between long duration and frequency of social media use and body dissatisfaction by gender (p > 0.05). The most prevalent social media platform was TikTok (63%), followed by Twitter (59%), and an equal percentage (53%) for WhatsApp, Instagram, and Snapchat. Conclusions This study indicates a low prevalence of body dissatisfaction among health science students. Increased duration and frequency of social media use were not significantly associated with body dissatisfaction. Focusing on body satisfaction among future physicians is crucial because it plays a significant role in shaping their patients' perceptions of health and beauty. Future studies could expand on these findings by including larger and more diverse sample sizes. They could also explore the impact of different types of social media content on body dissatisfaction.
背景 最近，社交媒体已成为日常生活中不可或缺的一部分，尤其是在年轻人当中。虽然这些平台带来了诸多益处，包括交流、信息共享和社交联系，但它们也与一系列负面心理后果有关，包括对身体形象的不满。本研究调查了沙特阿拉伯健康科学专业学生身体不满的流行情况，按性别评估了社交媒体使用的频率和时长，估计了每天使用社交媒体超过3小时对身体不满的影响，并确定了最常用的社交媒体平台。
方法 在2023年12月至2024年6月期间，我们对沙特国王阿卜杜勒阿齐兹健康科学大学的学生进行了一项横断面研究，包括吉达、利雅得和艾哈萨的所有大学学院和分校。每个学院的研究单位将调查问卷随机发送到学生的电子邮件地址。使用卡方检验和费舍尔精确检验来检验两个分类变量之间的关联。
结果 392名参与者年龄在18至25岁之间；超过一半（63%）为女性，95%为单身。大多数（88%）对自己的身体形象感到满意，而11.2%不满意。身体不满与性别（p = 0.038）和体重指数（p = 0.031）显著相关。约87%的人报告每天在社交媒体上花费≤3小时，65%的人报告使用社交媒体六次或更多次。社交媒体使用的时长和频率与按性别划分的身体不满之间没有关联（p > 0.05）。最流行的社交媒体平台是TikTok（63%），其次是Twitter（59%），WhatsApp、Instagram和Snapchat的比例相同（53%）。
结论 本研究表明健康科学专业学生中身体不满的流行率较低。社交媒体使用时长和频率的增加与身体不满没有显著关联。关注未来医生的身体满意度至关重要，因为这在塑造患者对健康和美的认知方面起着重要作用。未来的研究可以通过纳入更大、更多样化的样本量来扩展这些发现。它们还可以探索不同类型的社交媒体内容对身体不满的影响。
