Lifestyle-Related Chronic Diseases and the Practice of Healthy-Lifestyle Among Elderly Patients Attending Family Medicine Clinics of a Tertiary Institution in South-West Nigeria

Abstract

Backgroud:  Lifestyle-related chronic diseases are a growing global health burden resulting in a significant proportion of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Globally, they account for 70% of all deaths, with an increasing burden in low- and middle-income countries due to rapid urbanization, changing dietary patterns, and sedentary lifestyles. In Nigeria, the prevalence of these conditions has risen markedly over the past few decades, with hypertension affecting approximately one in three adults and diabetes prevalence increasing, particularly in urban populations. Despite the known benefits of healthy lifestyle practices in preventing and controlling chronic diseases, there is limited context-specific data on the extent to which older patients in Nigeria adopt such practices, especially within the setting of family medicine clinics that serve as the first point of comprehensive and continuous care. Thus, this study aims to determine the relationship between lifestyle-related chronic disease and the practice of healthy lifestyle among older patients attending Family Medicine clinics in a tertiary health facility in south- western Nigeria.
Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study with a sample size of 373. A systematic random sampling technique was used to recruit the respondents. Healthy lifestyle practices were assessed using the Simple Lifestyle Indicator Questionnaire (SLIQ). The 12-question SLIQ assesses five aspects of lifestyle: diet, exercise, stress, smoking, and alcohol consumption. Data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 19 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). The level of significance was set at p<0.05.
Results: The majority of respondents (56.0%) were aged 60–69 years. The majority (80.4%) reported having a lifestyle-related chronic disease; however, comorbidity was present in only 15.8% of respondents. Among the specific types of diseases, Cardiovascular Diseases (CVDs) were the most common, affecting 63.5% of the respondents, followed by endocrine diseases (11%). There was a significant relationship between dietary behaviour and the presence of lifestyle-related diseases (p = 0.006). Likewise, there was a statistically significant association between having lifestyle-related diseases and the level of physical activity (p = 0.04).
Conclusion: These findings reveal that lifestyle-related diseases among elderly Nigerians are associated with their dietary and physical exercise behaviors.