SELF-REPORTED CHANGE IN (UN)HEALTHY BEHAVIOURS OF PATIENTS WITH CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES DURING THE SECOND COVID-19 LOCKDOWN IN NORTHERN GREECE: FOCUS ON DIABETES

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the study was to compare the (un)healthy behaviours of diabetic (DM) and non-diabetic (non-DM) CVDs patients during the second COVID-19 lockdown in Northern Greece. Design and method: This is a cross-sectional short questionnaire telephone-based survey conducted in February 2021. Responders with known CVDs were primarily questioned about smoking, diet and physical activity, along essential medical history. Results: The response rate was high (62.6%) with the majority of the participants willing to speak for longer time than initially estimated. In total, answers by 374 patients (118 DM and 256 non-DM) were analyzed. There was no difference in term of gender but the DM group was older (mean age 59.3 ± 6.9 old vs 54.8 ± 6.1 years). There were 184 active smokers questioned (DM: 36, 30.5% and non-DM: 148, 57.8%). More non-DM patients increased smoking DM ones. Of note, the majority of the DM patients reported smoking similarly than before the lockdown. Unfortunately, none of the questioned participants attempted to quit smoking. The mean BMI of the non-DM patients was 27.1 ± 4.2 kg/m2(vs. 26.7 ± 3.8 kg/m2before lockdown) corresponding to a mean weight gain of about 1.5 kg. The rise in mean BMI could be explained, partly, by the increased eating as reported by almost half of the non-DM participants (124, 48.4%). There was a smaller increase in mean BMI of the DM sample (from 26.6 ± 3.9 kg/m2to 26.9 ± 4.1 kg/m2) corresponding to a mean weight gain of less than 0.5 kg. The limited weight gain is represented by the majority of the DM patients reported that they didn’t change their eating habits. About 1/5 of the participants answered that they increased exercising in comparison to their pre-lockdown habits (56, 21.9% vs 24, 20.3%, p> 0.05), Contrary to that, more than half of the DM patients had maintained similar levels of physical activity (68, 57.6%). Conclusions: The hard lockdown in Greece during the second wave was accompanied with an aggravation of unhealthy choices by patients with CVDs. This observation was less apparent in the patient with diabetes. Further research is warrant to assess the clinical impact of these behaviours.