Prevalence and perception of pre-morbid lifestyle-related risk factors among covid-19 survivors in Lagos state and Abuja capital city of Nigeria

TL;DR

This study found that many COVID-19 survivors in Nigeria were overweight or obese due to poor lifestyle habits, and their perception of risk factors often did not match reality.

Contribution

The study provides new insights into lifestyle-related risk factors among Nigerian COVID-19 survivors and highlights discrepancies between perceived and actual risk.

Findings

Most survivors were overweight or obese, with high rates of physical inactivity.

Many survivors had poor diets, with low fruit and vegetable consumption.

Perceived risk factors often differed from the measured risk factors.

Abstract

This study investigated the prevalence and perception of premorbid lifestyle-related risk factors among Covid-19 Survivors in Abuja and Lagos, Nigeria.

A cross-sectional descriptive survey design was used to collect data from 522 consenting adult Covid-19 survivors in Abuja (274) and Lagos (248), Nigeria, using a self-developed, close-ended and validated questionnaire called the Lifestyle-related Factors in Covid-19 Questionnaire (LFC-19 Questionnaire) through a multistage sampling technique. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis was done using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) with P value set at ≤ 0.05. Ethical approval was obtained for the study.

A significant number of Covid-19 Survivors were overweight/obese (67.8%) and had a history of physical inactivity (73.8%). A small proportion had premorbid chronic diseases (23.8%) as well as pre-existing lifestyle-related risk factors such as inadequate consumption of fruits (67.2%) and vegetables (60.0%) and physical inactivity (73.8%).

This study revealed that most Covid-19 survivors residing in Lagos State and in Abuja capital city of Nigeria were either overweight or obese. This was due to physical inactivity, an unhealthy diet consisting of low fruit and vegetable consumption and poor sleep. Additionally, the study showed that patients’ perceptions of their risk factors were often inaccurate as it differed from what was measured. The findings from this study will assist public health professionals and clinicians in designing and implementing more effective Covid-19 management strategies that incorporate healthy lifestyle practices and lifestyle modifications and assist public health promotion and communication specialists in designing appropriate and evidence-based preventive messages.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-024-19502-w.

Figures