Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26290657›Full record

ArticleInternational journal of men's health

Prevalence of eating disorders in males: a review of rates reported in academic research and UK mass media.

Helen Sweeting, Laura Walker, Alice MacLean, Chris Patterson, Ulla Räisänen, Kate Hunt

Open access · greenAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in International journal of men's health. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 45 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
45citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
7.6field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

45 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 97 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Helen SweetingMRC/CSO Social & Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, 200 Renfield Street, Glasgow, G2 3QB, UK.
Laura WalkerMRC/CSO Social & Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, 200 Renfield Street, Glasgow, G2 3QB, UK.
Alice MacLeanMRC/CSO Social & Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, 200 Renfield Street, Glasgow, G2 3QB, UK.
Chris PattersonMRC/CSO Social & Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, 200 Renfield Street, Glasgow, G2 3QB, UK.
Ulla RäisänenHealth Experiences Research Group, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Kate HuntMRC/CSO Social & Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, 200 Renfield Street, Glasgow, G2 3QB, UK.
University of Glasgow · GBMRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit · GBUniversity of Oxford · GB

Funding

Medical Research Council MC_UU_12017/12Medical Research Council MC_UU_12017/3
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Media presentations of health issues affect evaluations of personal susceptibility to particular illnesses and hence help-seeking behaviours. We examined data on prevalence of eating disorders (EDs - which are often characterised as 'female') among males in: scientific literature; readily-accessible web-based information; and UK newspaper articles (published 7/12/2002-7/12/2012). This revealed conflicting statistics. Academic papers suggest men comprise around 25% of community-based samples, but much lower proportions (10% or less) of clinic samples. Websites and newspapers present widely differing statistics both on prevalence overall (numbers with EDs in the UK ranged from 60,000 to 2.7 million), and in men (generally suggesting they constituted 10-25% of those with EDs), rarely distinguishing between diagnosed and non-diagnosed samples. By 2011, newspapers were more consistent on overall numbers with EDs in the UK (1.6 million) and the proportion who were men (20%), drawing on one website as the authoritative source. Conflicting statistics may confuse men searching for ED (or other) health-related information, lead to underestimations of male susceptibility to EDs and/or reinforce inappropriate stereotypes of EDs as confined to adolescent girls.

Indexed as

Eating disordersGender differencesMalesMediaNewspapersPrevalenceWebsites

Identifiers

PMID26290657
PMCPMC4538851
OpenAlexW1563387561

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.