Aim: Drug use and its association with eating disorders is a neglected health issue among Palestinians. We aimed to characterize eating attitudes and behaviors and investigate their association with substance use among male Palestine refugees.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2022 at five refugee camps in the North of the West Bank, Palestine. Male refugees (N=566) were recruited to fill out a self-administrated questionnaire and to give urine samples to test current illicit drug use. In addition, the eating attitudes and behaviors (EAT-26) questionnaire was used to screen for eating disorders (ED).

Results: The response rate was 47.7%, and 52.6% were obese. The percentage of ED based on EAT-26 was 27.0%. The percentage of participants with ED among substance users was as follows: Any illicit drug (30.8%), Benzodiazepine (32.6%), Methamphetamines (40.7%), Amphetamine (39.3%), Tetrahydrocannabinol (25.8%), and Barbiturates (20%), alcohol (12.0%). Obese were at higher risk of having ED (OR=2.344, P-value=0.017) than underweighted participants. Binge eaters were more likely to be THC users (OR=2.745, P-value=0.035). Increased risk of self-induced vomiting behavior was associated with binge behavior (OR=5.97, P-value=0.026, laxative use (OR=26.38, P-value=0.003), Barbiturates use (OR=59.36, P-value=0.022), waterpipe smoking (OR=8.62, P-value=0.014), vape smoking (OR=10.37, P-value=0.047), and inversely associated with age (OR=0.832, P-value<0.001).

Conclusions: Findings from this study demonstrate a substantially increased frequency of substance use among Palestine refugees with ED and unhealthy weight control behaviors. In addition, this study highlighted a new challenge for the health system to deal with new emerging health conditions among male refugees.

Title

Drug and Alcohol Dependence

Publisher

Elsevier /Science Direct

Publisher Country

Ireland

Indexing

Scopus

Impact Factor

3.9

Publication Type

Both (Printed and Online)

Volume

260

Year

2024

Pages

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