Aging male symptomatology and eating behavior

Figures & data

Table 1. Characteristics of the three recruitment groups of questionnaire respondents on the Aging Males' Symptoms scale (AMS).

	Groups					Statistics
	Mail respondents N = 261 (56%)	Cafeteria respondents N = 146 (31%)	Newspaper respondents N = 63 (13%)	All respondents N = 470	Effect size^a	Chi^2	Degrees of freedom	p Value overall^b
AMS – total score, M (SD)	28.7 (9.2)	27.7 (9.8)	30.6 (11.1)	28.6 (10.0)	0.008	3.4	–	ns
Psychological subscale	7.5 (3.2)	7.5 (3.2)	8.0 (3.4)	7.5 (3.2)	0.003	2.9	–	ns
Somato-vegetative subscale	12.8 (4.8)	12.0 (4.6)	13.0 (5.1)	12.6 (4.8)	0.007	2.5	–	ns
Sexual subscale	8.5 (3.4)	8.3 (3.2)	9.6 (3.9)	8.6 (3.4)	0.013	5.3	–	ns
AMS – grouping, N (%)						3.6	2	ns
High AMS^c (≥37)	45 (17)	21 (15)	16 (25)	82 (18)	–	–	–	–
Low AMS^d (<37)	215 (83)	124 (85)	47 (75)	386 (83)	–	–	–	–

^a Partial eta squared for continuous variables.

^b Group comparisons by Kruskal–Wallis H-test.

^c Men scoring “moderate” or “severe” on the AMS.

^d Men scoring “little” or “none” on the AMS.

Table 2. Characteristics of men scoring “high” versus “low” on the Aging Males' Symptoms scale (AMS).

	High AMS group^a N = 82 (18%)	Low AMS group^b N = 386 (82%)	Effect size	Chi^2 or z Value	Degrees of freedom	p Value^c	p Value adjusted for current BMI
Demographics
Mean age, (M, SD)	54.1 (9.0)	54.0 (8.5)	–	–	–	ns	–
Married/in partnership, N (%)	67 (82)	331 (86)	–	–	–	ns	–
At least one child, N (%)	61 (74)	295 (77)	–	–	–	ns	–
At least 12 years of education, N (%)	43 (52)	234 (61)	–	–	–	ns	–
Aging males' symptomatology
AMS total score,^d M (SD)	45.7 (7.2)	24.9 (5.9)	d = 3.38	14.24	–	<.001	–
Somatic scale	19.8 (4.3)	11.0 (3.2)	d = 2.58	13.08	–	<.001	–
Psychological scale	12.5 (3.6)	6.5 (1.8)	d = 2.7	12.59	–	<.001	–
Sexual scale	13.1 (3.3)	7.7 (2.6)	d = 1.97	11.6	–	<.001	–
Physical and mental conditions
Current BMI,^e M (SD)	27.0 (4.5)	25.4 (3.5)	d = 0.43	0.66	–	.002	–
Maximum BMI, M (SD)	29.4 (5.3)	27.1 (4.0)	d = 0.54	3.7	–	<.001	–
WHO – weight categories, N (%)	–	–	OR = 1.92	12.29	6	.033	–
Underweight (BMI < 18.5)	1 (1)	3 (1)	–	–	–	–	–
Normal weight (18.5–24.9)	28 (35)	192 (50)	–	–	–	–	–
Overweight (25.0–29.9)	35 (43)	143 (38)	–	–	–	–	–
Obesity (BMI ≥ 30)	17 (21)	43 (11)	–	–	–	–	–
Currently in treatment
Physical illness, N (%)	52 (63)	152 (40)	OR = 2.55	4.6	2	<.001	<.001
Mental illness, N (%)	40 (49)	31 (8)	OR = 10.9	0.14	2	<.001	–
CES-D score,^f M (SD)	20.8 (8.7)	7.8 (5.1)	d = 2.21	11.52	–	<.001	–
CES-D categories, N (%)	–	–	OR = 37.0	3.6	4	<.001	<.001
<16	27 (33)	365 (95)	–	–	–	–	–
16–23	21 (26)	15 (4)	–	–	–	–	–
≥24	34 (42)	6 (2)	–	–	–	–	–
Eating behavior
Eating disorder symptoms,^g N (%)	12 (15)	20 (5)	OR = 3.35	9.5	1	.007	.005
BMI <18.5, N	1	3	–	–	–	–	–
Binges only, N	1	10	–	–	–	–	–
Binges with purging, N	4	3	–	–	–	–	–
Purging only, N	6	4	–	–	–	–	–
EDE-Q total score,^h M (SD)	1.4 (1.2)	0.5 (0.6)	d = 1.22	7.09	–	<.001	<.001
Restraint	1.1 (1.3)	0.6 (0.9)	d = 0.51	3.6	–	<.001	–
Eating concern	0.7 (1.3)	0.05 (0.3)	d = 1.07	8.1	–	<.001	–
Shape concern	2.0 (1.6)	0.8 (0.9)	d = 1.14	7.1	–	<.001	–
Weight concern	1.6 (1.4)	0.6 (0.7)	d = 1.16	6.5	–	<.001	–
EDE-Q – cutoff ≥2.3, N (SD)	16 (20)	8 (2)	OR = 12.2	41.62	1	<.001	–
Diet experience >6 times, N (%)	6 (7)	15 (4)	–	–	–	ns	–
Exercise
Frequency of sports-activity, N (SD)	–	–	–	–	–	ns	–
Never/rarely (less than 1/month)	24 (31)	78 (21)	–	–	–	–	–
1–2×/week	34 (44)	173 (46)	–	–	–	–	–
>3–6/week	19 (25)	124 (33)	–	–	–	–	–
EAI score,^i M (SD)	15.7 (4.6)	13.0 (4.4)	d = 0.61	3.8	–	<.001	–
Categories, N (%)	–	–	OR = 2.7	13.33	2	.003	–
0–12 asymptomatic	14 (26)	136 (46)	–	–	.003	.003	.003
13–23 indicative for symptomatic individual	37 (69)	154 (53)	–	–	–	–	–
24–30 at risk of exercise addiction	3 (6)	3 (1)	–	–	–	–	–
Body image measures
Satisfaction with your weight? N (%)	–	–	OR = 3.42	39.3	2	<.001	<.001
Not satisfied	27 (34)	32 (8)	–	–	–	–	–
Moderately satisfied	26 (33)	135 (36)	–	–	–	–	–
Very satisfied	27 (34)	212 (56)	–	–	–	–	–
Satisfaction with your shape? N (%)	–	–	OR = 6.79	72.8	2	<.001	<.001
Not satisfied	27 (33)	18 (5)	–	–	–	–	–
Moderately satisfied	38 (47)	154 (41)	–	–	–	–	–
Very satisfied	16 (20)	206 (55)	–	–	–	–	–
Self-evaluation is determined by weight
and shape, N (%)	28 (35)	80 (21)	OR = 2.03	6.6	1	.014	.004
Feeling of fatness, N (%)	–	–	OR = 4.10	39.9	2	<.001	<.001
Not at all	44 (54)	307 (81)	–	–	–	–	–
Moderately	21 (16)	58 (15)	–	–	–	–	–
Very much	17 (21)	14 (4)	–	–	–	–	–
Feeling of thinness, N (%)					–	–	–
Not at all	68 (85)	329 (88)	–	–	–	ns	–
Moderately	6 (8)	28 (8)	–	–	–	–	–
Very much	6 (8)	15 (4)	–	–	–	–	–
I really like my body, N (%)
Agreement	37 (45)	312 (83)	OR = 0.15	71.4	2	<.001	<.001
Do not know	33 (40)	60 (16)	–	–	–	–	–
Disagreement	12 (15)	3 (1)	–	–	–	–	–

^a High AMS: score ≥ 37.

^b Low AMS: score <37.

^c Group comparisons by Mann–Whitney U-test for continuous variables, Fisher's exact test for dichotomous variables and Chi-square test for categorical variables.

^d Aging Males' Symptoms Scale.

^e Body mass index.

^f Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale.

^g See our previous paper (Reference [19] in the present paper) for detailed definitions of these terms.

^h Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire.

ⁱ Exercise Addiction Inventory.

Mangweth-Matzek B, Kummer KK, Pope HG. Eating disorder symptoms in middle-aged and older men. Int J Eat Disord. 2016;49:953–957.

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