ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: the COVID-19 pandemic has had a substantial impact on human health, affecting many lifestyle behaviors such as physical activity, sedentary behavior, dietary habits and sleep. PURPOSE: to assess the feasibility of six sessions of a virtual behavioral intervention to promote healthy lifestyle practices during a stay-at-home advisory phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A participant-blinded randomized controlled trial was performed through a virtual platform setting. Participants were randomly assigned into two groups. They were assigned to a motivational interviewing (MI) intervention or attention group, with pre- and postintervention assessments. The MI treatment consisted of six sessions (twice each week). The same number of virtual structured sessions were provided for the attention group, and they provided brief advice to promote healthy lifestyles. The study was conducted from April to June 2020. RESULTS: The feasibility outcomes indicated that 39 of the 50 participants (78%) completed the trial. The dropout rate was 21.7% for the attention group and 22.2% for the intervention group. Participating in MI had a significant positive interventional effect on physical activity level, distress and fear of COVID-19. CONCLUSIONS: It is feasible to deliver behavioral change interventions virtually. Further, MI can be used as a useful strategy for the favorable promotion of a healthy lifestyle. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT05392218 (26/05/2022).
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on various health conditions. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on body weight and body mass index (BMI) in Saudi Arabia. We used electronic health records obtained from a healthcare system representing five hospitals in three different regions in the Kingdom to examine the change in weight utilizing a longitudinal design. The study included all adults who had visited outpatient clinics in two different time points, pre-2020 (years 2018 and 2019 prior to COVID-19) and post-2020 (the year 2021). Weight and BMI changes in percentages were described. Also, bivariate chi-square test, paired t-test, and multivariable multinomial logistic regression model were used for the analyses. A total of 165,279 individuals were included in the study. On average, a significant weight gain of 0.33 kg (95% CI: 0.29–0.36) was observed in our study. Approximately 10% of the population had shifted to either overweight or obese BMI classes during the study period, as 4.8% of those with normal BMI pre-2020 had shifted to overweight or obese classes at post-2020, and 5.1% of those who were overweight had shifted to obese class. Also, 23.1% of the population had gained 5% or more of their pre-2020 weight, while 17% had lost 5% or more. Young individuals were over three times more likely to gain 5% or more than older individuals (OR: 3.34;95% CI: 3.12–3.56). Females had 24% higher odds to gain 5% or more of their pre-2020 weight than males (OR: 1.24;95% CI: 1.21–1.27). Diabetics were 27% more likely to lose 5% or more than non-diabetics (OR: 1.27;95% CI: 1.23–1.31). Our findings provide insights into the impact of COVID-19 on weight and population health. Further investment in interventions for weight management is warranted during similar circumstances such as lockdowns due to infection waves or new variants. Future studies are also needed to explore the modifications that have occurred during the pandemic in the weight-related lifestyle factors such as dietary choices and physical activity levels.
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: COVID-19 pandemic cautionary measures have affected the daily life of people around the globe. Further, understanding the complete lifestyle behaviors profile can help healthcare providers in designing effective interventions and assessing overall health impact on risk of disease development. Thus, this study aims to assess the complete spectrum of lifestyle behaviors (physical activity, sedentary behavior, sleep, distress, social support, dietary habits, and smoking) prevalence and its association with fear of COVID-19 in people living in Saudi Arabia. METHODS: Self-administered survey consisted of seven sections was used to collect data on fear of COVID-19 using Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S), physical activity and sedentary behavior using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ), sleep quality using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), psychosocial distress using Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K-10), social support using the MOS social support survey, and dietary habits using a short version of food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). The online survey was distributed via social media platforms during lockdown period of COVID-19 pandemic (May-June 2020). Each section consisted of validated questionnaire examining one of aforementioned lifestyle behaviors. Associations were analyzed using multiple linear regression. RESULTS: A total of 669 individuals attempted to complete the online survey, 554 participants completed at least 2 sections of the survey (82.8%), and 41.3% (n = 276) completed the whole online survey. The majority of the sample were female (83%), not smokers (86.5%), had sufficient sleep duration (7.5 hrs ± 2.1), and only indicated mild level of distress (21.4 ± 8.9); they also reported high level of sedentary behavior (7.7 hrs ± 4.5), poor sleep quality (5.4 ± 2.4), were not engaged in healthy eating habits, and moderate level of perceived social support (62.0% ± 27). Only physical activity results indicated that about half of the sample were engaged in moderate to vigorous level of physical activity (54.3%). Further, being female (ß = 0.12; 95% CI: 0.45, 2.94) and married (ß = 0.13; 95% CI: 0.3, 2.63) were associated with fear of COVID-19 level (ß = 0.21; 95% IC: 0.05, 0.19) with a confidence interval level of 95%. In addition, distress was associated with fear. CONCLUSION: The trend of lifestyle behaviors measured during lockdown period changed from previously published rates. Future research needs to establish the short-term and long-term effect of lifestyle behaviors complete profile on physical and mental health.