COVID-19 Lockdown and Lifestyle Changes in Saudi Adults With Types 1 and 2 Diabetes

Nasser M Al-Daghri; Abeer A Almiman; Kaiser Wani; Malak N K Khattak; Naji J Aljohani; Hanan Alfawaz; Abdulaziz Al-Hameidi; Dara Aldisi; Ghadah Alkhaldi; Shaun Sabico

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2022.912816

COVID-19 Lockdown and Lifestyle Changes in Saudi Adults With Types 1 and 2 Diabetes

Front Public Health. 2022 Jul 8:10:912816. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.912816. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Nasser M Al-Daghri¹, Abeer A Almiman¹, Kaiser Wani¹, Malak N K Khattak¹, Naji J Aljohani^{1

2}, Hanan Alfawaz^{1

3}, Abdulaziz Al-Hameidi⁴, Dara Aldisi^{1

5}, Ghadah Alkhaldi⁵, Shaun Sabico¹

Affiliations

¹ Chair for Biomarkers of Chronic Diseases, Biochemistry Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
² Department of Medicine, Obesity, Endocrine, and Metabolism Center, King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Food Science and Nutrition, College of Food Science and Agriculture, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Saudi Diabetes Charity, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Department of Community Health Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Objective: We aimed to evaluate and compare the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on lifestyle changes and other common related effects of the lockdown in Saudi adults with diabetes mellitus (DM), both type 1 (T1D) and type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Methods: 265 T1D and 285 T2D individuals were included in this cross-sectional survey during lockdown using an online questionnaire and compared with 297 participants without DM. Variables included demographics, treatment changes, use of supplements, change in sleeping habits and physical activity, dietary changes, social and mental health, and education and awareness during COVID-19 lockdown.

Results: The COVID-19 lockdown was associated with more treatment doses in people with T1D but not in those with T2D (p = 0.003). More participants with T1D and T2D than the control group reported that they felt symptoms of depression during lockdown (ORs of 1.83, p = 0.008 and 2.2, p = 0.001, respectively) and that lockdown affected them psychologically (ORs of 1.64, p = 0.019 and 1.85, p = 0.005, respectively). More participants with T1D than controls reported that their physical activity decreased during lockdown (OR of 2.70, p = 0.024). Furthermore, significantly lesser participants in both DM groups than controls agreed that the health education regarding COVID-19 covered everything (ORs of 0.41, p < 0.001 and 0.56, p < 0.001, respectively for T1D and T2D groups). Regarding dietary habits, the DM groups reported more changes in either the number of daily meals, meal content, or mealtimes than the control group.

Conclusions: COVID-19 lockdown-associated lifestyle changes were more prevalent in individuals with T1D and T2D compared to control. Findings may assist public health authorities in outlining their responses in pandemics and promote healthy lifestyle adaptations in this high-risk cohort to limit adverse effects in future lockdowns.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; diabetes; diet; lifestyle; physical activity.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
COVID-19* / epidemiology
Communicable Disease Control
Cross-Sectional Studies
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1*
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2* / epidemiology
Humans
Life Style
SARS-CoV-2
Saudi Arabia / epidemiology