Proposition of an anthropometric criterion for diagnosis suspicion of muscle dysmorphia

Introduction: The muscle dysmorphia (DYSMUS) is a psychiatric syndrome that occurs to both genders with higher prevalence in men, in which the individual perceives his body as small and weak when in fact it is strong and muscular. There are no anthropometric approaches in literature about DYSMUS. Objective: To obtain data from a reference population in order to suggest an anthropometric criterion for the diagnosis of DYSMUS. Methods: The sample was composed of 1,825 individuals who participated in a medical-functional evaluation (1,108 men and 717 women) between years of 1994 and 2003, with ages higher or equal to 15 years, non-athletes and not presenting significant locomotive physical disorders or clinical diagnosis of DYSMUS. Two non-dimensional proportionality indexes B/P1 and B/P2 were individually calculated with and without correction through the measure of the skinfold thickness, respectively. The presence of a ratio above 1 between the contracted and inflected arm and leg perimeters associated to the inexistence of three other cut-off points of ectomorphy, ∑SKF (sum of measures of triceps and medial leg skinfold thickness) and abdominal perimeter variables; these last ones with the purpose of excluding individuals with high B/P1 and B/P2 values primarily due to the excess of body fat. Results: The ratio B/P1 > 1 was observed in 16 individuals, eight from each gender. Analyzing the other cut-off points, all women could be identified as obese and, therefore, not carrier of DYSMUS, while among men, seven out of eight individuals could be classified as suggestive DYSMUS cases. Conclusions: Based on the wide and heterogeneous sample used in this study, it is possible to suggest an anthropometric criterion to identify DYSMUS. Other studies are being conducted in order to validate the DYSMUS anthropometric criterion proposed in the present study and to determine the sensibility and specificity used in samples willfully selected due to their high prevalence of DYSMUS.