Health behaviour change among UK adults during the pandemic: findings from the COVID-19 Cancer Attitudes and Behaviours study

Anyanwu, Philip, Moriarty, Yvonne ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7608-4699, McCutchan, Grace ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8079-2540, Grozeva, Detelina ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3239-8415, Goddard, Mark, Whitelock, Victoria, Cannings-John, Rebecca ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5235-6517, Quinn-Scoggins, Harriet ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6136-070X, Hughes, Jacqueline, Gjini, Ardiana, Hepburn, Julie, Osborne, Kirstie, Robling, Michael ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1004-036X, Townson, Julia ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8679-3619, Waller, Jo, Whitaker, Katriina L., Brown, Jamie, Brain, Kate ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9296-9748 and Moore, Graham ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6136-3978 2022. Health behaviour change among UK adults during the pandemic: findings from the COVID-19 Cancer Attitudes and Behaviours study. BMC Public Health 22 , 1437. 10.1186/s12889-022-13870-x

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Abstract

Background COVID-19 related lockdowns may have affected engagement in health behaviours among the UK adult population. This prospective observational study assessed socio-demographic patterning in attempts to change and maintain a range of health behaviours and changes between two time points during the pandemic. Methods Adults aged 18 years and over (n = 4,978) were recruited using Dynata (an online market research platform) and the HealthWise Wales platform, supplemented through social media advertising. Online surveys were conducted in August/September 2020 when lockdown restrictions eased in the UK following the first major UK lockdown (survey phase 1) and in February/March 2021 during a further national lockdown (survey phase 2). Measures derived from the Cancer Awareness Measure included self-reported attempts to reduce alcohol consumption, increase fruit/vegetable consumption, increase physical activity, lose weight and reduce/stop smoking. Multivariable logistic regressions were used to assess individual health behaviour change attempts over time, adjusted for age, sex, ethnicity, employment and education. Results Around half of participants in survey phase 1 reported trying to increase physical activity (n = 2607, 52.4%), increase fruit/vegetables (n = 2445, 49.1%) and lose weight (n = 2413, 48.5%), with 19.0% (n = 948) trying to reduce alcohol consumption among people who drink. Among the 738 participants who smoked, 51.5% (n = 380) were trying to reduce and 27.4% (n = 202) to stop smoking completely. Most behaviour change attempts were more common among women, younger adults and minority ethnic group participants. Efforts to reduce smoking (aOR: 0.98, 95% CI: 0.82–1.17) and stop smoking (aOR: 0.98, 95% CI: 0.80–1.20) did not differ significantly in phase 2 compared to phase 1. Similarly, changes over time in attempts to improve other health behaviours were not statistically significant: physical activity (aOR: 1.07; 95% CI: 0.99–1.16); weight loss (aOR: 0.95; 95% CI: 0.90–1.00); fruit/vegetable intake (aOR: 0.98, 95% CI: 0.91–1.06) and alcohol use (aOR: 1.32, 95% CI: 0.92–1.91). Conclusion A substantial proportion of participants reported attempts to change health behaviours in the initial survey phase. However, the lack of change observed over time indicated that overall motivation to engage in healthy behaviours was sustained among the UK adult population, from a period shortly after the first lockdown toward the end of the second prolonged lockdown.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Schools:	Medicine Centre for Trials Research (CNTRR) Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education) Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions for Public Health Improvement (DECIPHer)
Additional Information:	This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Publisher:	BioMed Central
ISSN:	1471-2458
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	14 July 2022
Date of Acceptance:	12 July 2022
Last Modified:	05 Jan 2024 05:36
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/151292

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