Abstract

Background: Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is defined as a mental health disorder characterized by preoccupation or excessive concern about defects in physical appearance that are unremarkable or slightly appear to others. This disorder causes significant distress and may affect a person’s lifestyle. We aimed to assess the prevalence and awareness of BDD among females seeking cosmetic procedures.
Methods: This cross-sectional study, targeted females seeking cosmetic procedures in the central region of Riyadh city. The study included 350 female participants. Data were collected in June and July 2023, by a paper based questionnaire. Diagnosis is based on the score of a patient in the first three questions. The data cleared, coded, and entered data analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, with a p-value of 0.05 or less deemed statistically significant.
Result: Among all participants, only (54.4%) have undergone cosmetic procedures, (57.3%) planning to undergo cosmetic procedures in the future. Among all participants, only (90.3%) were not diagnosed with BDD. 349 participants had a prevalence of BDD. The majority (67.34%) were with no prevalence of BDD, while the minority (0.57%) had extremely severe BDD. 15.47% of those who attended had mild BDD. On the other hand, 12.61% of the participants had moderate BDD, and the participants who had severe BDD were 4.01%, which means, 32.66% of participants had mild to severe BDD.
Conclusion: It was found that most female participants need more awareness and knowledge about BDD to preserve it to reduce the risk of BDD. One-third of all participants have a moderate to severe prevalence of BDD. The results of this study have shown. Through the study, it was found that many female participants need more knowledge regarding BDD.

Key words: Body Dysmorphic Disorder, BDD, Cosmetic procedure, female, Saudi Arabia.