Exercise dependence among customers from a Parisian sport shop
Exercise dependence among customers from a Parisian sport shop

Summary/Abstract: We assessed exercise dependence (ED), alcohol and nicotine use disorders, eating disorders, hypochondria and compulsive buying and in a population of customers of a Parisian sport shop. Methods: Five hundred consecutive customers of a sport shop were invited to participate. Diagnostic of exercise dependence was made with the Exercise Addiction Inventory and a specific questionnaire checking all diagnostic criteria. The DSM-IV-TR criteria for bulimia, alcohol and nicotine use disorders were checked and all subjects answered the CAGE and Fagerström questionnaires. Hypochondria was assessed with the DSM-IV-TR criteria and the Whiteley Index of Health Anxiety. For all parameters, customers with (ED+) and without (ED–) exercise dependence were compared. Results: The prevalence of exercise dependence was 29.6%. Subjects from the ED+ group were younger than in the ED– group (27.1 vs 29.8 years) and there were more women. They were more dependent on alcohol, had higher scores at the CAGE questionnaire. ED+ subjects more often presented hypochondria (23 vs 15%), bulimia and binge eating and they more often made gifts to themselves and to others. Conclusions: Exercise dependence appears as a frequent and almost always unrecognized form of behavioral dependence in non clinical population frequenting sport shops. It is frequently associated to chemical dependence and eating disorders.

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