Exploring the Healthy Behaviors of Nigerians during the COVID-19 Pandemic

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Abstract

Healthy behaviors remain important for staying safe during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This study, therefore, explored the healthy behaviors of Nigerians during the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of COVID-19 related news on healthy behaviors. Thirty-three (17 females and 16 males) participants from the general Nigerian population with age range of 23-64 years were recruited via social media using the snowball technique. Responses were elicited using semi-structured questions and subjected to thematic analysis. The healthy behaviors identified included; “social distancing”, “changes in nutrition”, “hand washing or sanitizing”, “exercise”, “increased vigilance from those with comorbidities”, and “use of facemask”. In another analysis, the impacts of COVID-19 related news on healthy behaviors were; “behavior modification”, “anxious impacts”, and “fake news about COVID-19 caused people to stop listening to COVID-19 related news”. Findings generated practical implications for enhancing healthy behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. The role of the media in strengthening healthy behaviors during the pandemic was also highlighted.

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  1. SciScore for 10.1101/2020.11.25.20235457: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board StatementIRB: Procedure: The research was approved by the Research Ethics committee of Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria.
    Consent: The purpose of the study was highlighted in the survey link, and an online consent form was inclusive.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variableSeventeen females and 16 males with age range of 23-64 years participated in this study.

    Table 2: Resources

    No key resources detected.


    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).


    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    This study has some limitations that must be acknowledged. First, the method of data collection did not accommodate digitally excluded people whose healthy behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic may be particularly important to understand. Second, the research design and sampling technique can compromise the generalization of findings. Another limitation of the study was that the participants self-reported anxious impacts from COVID-19 related news, and this research did not include measures of anxiety in data collection. It is, consequently, not possible to explain how anxious participants were. Lastly, the participants were recruited from Nigeria, and it is not certain that the findings from this research represent the healthy behaviors of people in the western worlds that were particularly hit by the global pandemic. Nonetheless, the findings from this research contributes to the growing body of knowledge on the COVID-19 pandemic. This study concluded that Nigerian participants in this study were practicing healthy behaviors to stay safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, and COVID-19 related news from the media was positively and negatively affecting the practice of healthy behaviors among them. This research can be furthered by exploring the barriers to practicing healthy behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.


    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.


    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.


    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

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