Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a global problem but its increasing prevalence in the working age group in developing countries like Nigeria is concerning and needs urgent attention.
The study was a mixed method design: quantitative phase with 402 participants and qualitative phase with 16 participants in two focus groups. The participants in the quantitative survey phase completed two questionnaires on the knowledge and perception of CVD and its risk factors. Data from the quantitative cross-sectional survey were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The qualitative data were analysed using content thematic analysis.
We report that 39.1% of the participants had high knowledge whilst 61.9% had low and average knowledge of CVD and its risk factors. Of the participants, 78.1% had a wrong perception of CVD and its risk factors. Participants from faculties of veterinary medicine and basic medical sciences had better knowledge than others who were not medically inclined (
Adolescents and young adults in this study did not have good knowledge of CVD and its risk factors. They also had a wrong perception about CVD and its risk factors.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is an important public health concern and one of the leading causes of mortality.
There has been a rise in CVD and its risk factors in developing countries, with high mortality rate amongst younger people, than in developed countries. This can be attributed to the lack of knowledge and effective preventive strategies, which can also be linked to a high rate of poverty in these countries.
Adolescence and young adulthood are critical developmental periods characterised by distinct physical, psychological, cognitive and social changes.
Health information, knowledge and perception about diseases and body functions are evident determinants of health status and outcomes.
The study used a mixed method design, utilising a cross-sectional survey and exploratory qualitative study (focus group discussion).
The participants of this study were undergraduates that were randomly selected from the following faculties at the University of Ibadan: art, basic medical science, law, renewable natural resources, science, social sciences and veterinary medicine. Each participant must have spent at least one academic session at the University of Ibadan. Students who had been diagnosed previously with a CVD or currently had a CVD were excluded from this study. A participant who was diagnosed with CVD during this study had an undue advantage over the others.
The seven faculties were selected from a total of 14 faculties by simple random sampling technique. The participants for the cross-sectional survey were consecutively recruited into the study, whilst those for the qualitative study were purposively selected. The sample size for the cross-sectional survey was calculated using Slovin’s formula,
This is a 25-item instrument that measures knowledge of major risk factors that cause the development of CVD.
This instrument was used to assess the knowledge of the participants about CVD and its risk factors. The questionnaire was self-administered. Correct knowledge of CVD and its risk factors was calculated for each participant using the scoring formula of the questionnaire to determine if the knowledge of the participants about the subject under consideration was high, average or low.
This is a 20-item instrument developed to measure an individual’s perception of the probability of developing heart disease.
This instrument was used to assess the perception of CVD and its risk factors amongst participants, and it was self-administered. Correct answers to questions indicated a positive perception and wrong answers indicated a negative perception. Using the scoring of the questionnaire, a participant’s perception could be assessed.
The Heart Disease Fact Questionnaire and the Perception of Risk of Heart Disease Scale were self-administered to the participants. The socio-demographic characteristics, such as age, sex, department, faculty, level of study and marital status, of the participants were also recorded on a biodata form.
This qualitative aspect of the study involved 16 participants from the seven faculties (with two to three participants from each faculty). Each faculty had a minimum of two participants, whilst two faculties had three participants, hence a total of 16 participants. There were two focus groups, with six participants in the first group and 10 in the second group. Other personnel present in the focus group discussion were one of the authors, a moderator and a note taker. Each focus group discussion lasted for 1 h and was conducted until saturation. The discussion was audio-recorded and the note taker also took notes. The recorded information was transcribed verbatim by a transcriptionist, and the transcribed work served as the basis of analysis for the study.
Data were collected over a period of 3 months. Quantitative data were coded and entered into an Excel spreadsheet. Descriptive statistics of mean, standard deviation, frequency, percentage and range were used to summarise the data. Pearson correlation was used to test the relationship between scores on the knowledge of CVD and scores on the perception of CVD, and knowledge scores of CVD risk factors and perception scores of risk factors amongst participants. Independent
Ethical approval was obtained for this study from the relevant authority and the reference number is UI/EC/18/0458.
A total of 433 copies of the questionnaires were distributed to the participants. However, 415 questionnaires were returned (response rate of 95.84%). Four hundred and two of the questionnaires (92.84%) were completed by the participants, and those questionnaires were deemed fit for analysis.
In all, 402 participants (59.5% female, 40.5% male) with a mean age of 20.94 ± 2.458 years participated in the cross-sectional survey aspect of the study (
Socio-demographic characteristics of the participants (
Variables | Frequency ( |
Percentage (%) |
---|---|---|
16–20 | 206 | 51.2 |
21–25 | 107 | 43.8 |
26–30 | 19 | 4.8 |
31–35 | 1 | 0.2 |
Art | 57 | 14.2 |
Basic Medical Science | 58 | 14.4 |
Law | 57 | 14.2 |
Renewable Natural Resources | 57 | 14.2 |
Science | 58 | 14.4 |
Social Science | 58 | 14.4 |
Veterinary Medicine | 57 | 14.2 |
Female | 239 | 59.5 |
Male | 163 | 40.5 |
Participants’ knowledge of CVD and its risk factors is shown in
Knowledge level of participants.
Variables | Frequency ( |
Percentage (%) | |
---|---|---|---|
Low | 104 | 25.9 | - |
Average | 141 | 35.1 | - |
High | 157 | 39.1 | - |
Mean ± s.d. | 15.31 ± 4.999 | - | - |
Minimum | - | 1.00 | - |
Maximum | - | - | 24.00 |
s.d., standard deviation.
ANOVA showing distribution of participants’ mean level of knowledge score across faculties.
Faculties | Mean scores ± s.d. | ||
---|---|---|---|
Art | 12.65 ± 4.012 | 16.108 (401) | 0.000 |
Basic Medical Science | 17.90 ± 4.109 | - | - |
Law | 15.21 ± 4.109 | - | - |
Renewable Natural Resources | 14.02 ± 5.016 | - | - |
Science | 14.10 ± 5.050 | - | - |
Social Science | 14.00 ± 4.649 | - | - |
Veterinary Medicine | 19.28 ± 2.477 | - | - |
ANOVA, analysis of variance; s.d., standard deviation.
ANOVA revealed significant differences in knowledge across the faculties, with faculties of veterinary medicine and arts scoring highest and lowest, respectively (
Difference in mean knowledge level across faculties – Tukey HSD multiple comparison test.
Variable | Arts | BMS | Law | RNR | Science | Soc Sci | Vet Med |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Arts | - | 5.25 |
2.56 |
1.37 | 1.45 | 1.35 | 6.63 |
BMS | −5.25 |
- | −2.69 |
−3.88 |
−3.79 |
−3.90 |
1.38 |
Law | −2.56 |
2.69 |
- | −1.19 | −1.11 | −1.21 | 4.07 |
RNR | −1.37 | 3.88 |
1.19 | - | 0.09 | −0.02 | 5.26 |
Science | −1.45 | 3.79 |
1.11 | −0.09 | - | −0.10 | 5.18 |
Soc Sci | −1.35 | 3.90 |
1.21 | 0.02 | 0.10 | - | 5.28 |
Vet Med | −6.63 |
−1.38 | −4.07 |
−5.26 |
−5.18 |
−5.28 |
- |
BMS, basic medical science; RNR, renewable natural resources; Soc Sci, social science; Vet Med, veterinary medicine.
The mean difference is significant at 5%.
According to
Participants’ knowledge of specific cardiovascular disease risk factors (
Statements | Correct |
Incorrect |
||
---|---|---|---|---|
% | % | |||
Smoking is a risk factor for heart disease (True) | 342 | 85.1 | 60 | 14.9 |
Regular physical activity will lower a person’s chance of getting heart disease (True) | 338 | 84.1 | 64 | 15.9 |
Keeping blood pressure under control will reduce a person’s risk for developing heart disease (True) | 334 | 83.1 | 68 | 16.9 |
High cholesterol is a risk factor for developing heart disease (True) | 332 | 82.6 | 70 | 17.4 |
Eating fatty foods does not affect blood cholesterol levels (False) | 330 | 82.1 | 72 | 17.9 |
High blood pressure is a risk factor for heart disease (True) | 304 | 75.6 | 98 | 24.4 |
If your bad cholesterol (LDL) is high, you are at risk for heart disease (True) | 212 | 52.7 | 190 | 47.3 |
A person always knows when they have a heart disease (False) | 199 | 49.5 | 203 | 50.5 |
If your good cholesterol (HDL) is high, you are at risk for heart disease (False) | 156 | 38.8 | 246 | 61.2 |
People with diabetes rarely have high cholesterol (False) | 124 | 30.8 | 278 | 69.2 |
People with diabetes tend to have low HDL (good cholesterol) (True) | 90 | 22.4 | 312 | 77.6 |
Men with diabetes have a higher risk of heart disease than women with diabetes (False) | 62 | 15.4 | 340 | 84.6 |
LDL, low-density lipoprotein; HDL, high-density lipoprotein.
Distribution of participants’ perception across faculties.
Variables | Positive |
Negative |
Mean scores ± s.d. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Frequency ( |
Percentage (%) | Frequency ( |
Percentage (%) | ||
Art | 20 | 35.1 | 37 | 64.9 | 45.84 ± 7.033 |
BMS | 10 | 17.2 | 48 | 82.8 | 45.22 ± 5.161 |
Law | 13 | 22.8 | 44 | 77.2 | 44.49 ± 6.431 |
RNR | 10 | 17.5 | 47 | 82.5 | 43.09 ± 6.736 |
Science | 13 | 22.4 | 45 | 77.6 | 43.62 ± 6.882 |
Soc Sci | 11 | 19.0 | 47 | 81.0 | 44.40 ± 6.173 |
Vet Med | 11 | 19.3 | 46 | 80.7 | 44.68 ± 7.236 |
BMS, basic medical science; RNR, renewable natural resources; Soc Sci, social science; Vet Med, veterinary medicine; s.d., standard deviation.
In
Overall distribution of participants’ responses to the perception of cardiovascular disease and its risk factors.
Statements | Strongly disagree |
Disagree |
Agree |
Strongly agree |
||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
% | % | % | % | |||||
There is a possibility that I have heart disease | 270 | 67.2 | 105 | 26.1 | 18 | 4.5 | 9 | 2.2 |
There is a good chance that I will get heart disease during the next 10 years | 276 | 68.7 | 104 | 25.9 | 13 | 3.2 | 9 | 2.2 |
A person who gets heart disease has no chance of being cured | 154 | 38.3 | 210 | 52.2 | 33 | 8.2 | 5 | 1.2 |
I have a high chance of getting heart disease because of my past behaviours | 281 | 69.9 | 96 | 23.9 | 15 | 3.7 | 10 | 2.5 |
I feel sure that I will get heart disease | 316 | 78.6 | 76 | 18.9 | 4 | 1.0 | 6 | 1.5 |
Healthy lifestyle habits are unattainable | 217 | 54.0 | 147 | 36.6 | 30 | 7.5 | 8 | 2.0 |
It is likely that I will get heart disease | 297 | 73.9 | 90 | 22.4 | 12 | 3.0 | 3 | 0.7 |
I am at risk for getting heart disease | 282 | 70.1 | 92 | 22.9 | 21 | 5.2 | 7 | 1.7 |
It is possible that I will get heart disease | 271 | 67.4 | 106 | 26.4 | 20 | 5.0 | 5 | 1.2 |
I am not doing anything now that is unhealthy to my heart | 61 | 15.2 | 75 | 18.7 | 151 | 37.6 | 115 | 28.6 |
I am too young to have heart disease | 83 | 20.6 | 139 | 34.6 | 104 | 25.9 | 76 | 18.9 |
People like me do not get heart disease | 99 | 24.6 | 156 | 38.8 | 81 | 20.1 | 66 | 16.4 |
I am very healthy so my body can fight off heart disease | 48 | 11.9 | 96 | 23.9 | 177 | 44.0 | 81 | 20.1 |
I am not worried that I might get heart disease | 51 | 12.7 | 75 | 18.7 | 147 | 36.6 | 129 | 32.1 |
People my age are too young to get heart disease | 116 | 28.9 | 168 | 41.8 | 72 | 17.9 | 46 | 11.4 |
People my age do not get heart disease | 153 | 38.1 | 171 | 42.5 | 51 | 12.7 | 27 | 6.7 |
My lifestyle habits do not put me at risk for heart disease | 43 | 10.7 | 64 | 15.9 | 174 | 43.3 | 121 | 30.1 |
No matter what I do, if I am going to get heart disease, I will get it | 202 | 50.2 | 130 | 32.3 | 49 | 12.2 | 21 | 5.2 |
People who don’t get heart disease are just plain lucky | 167 | 41.5 | 156 | 38.8 | 58 | 14.4 | 21 | 5.2 |
The causes of heart disease are unknown | 198 | 49.3 | 152 | 37.8 | 39 | 9.7 | 13 | 3.2 |
There was no significant association between the knowledge and perception of the participants regarding CVD and its risk factors (χ2 = 2.506,
Qualitative study to further explain and explore the perception of CVD and its risk factors using focus group discussions was conducted (
‘I know from what I read yesterday, it’s a disease of the heart.’
‘I’ve never heard about it. It just something I’ve seen somewhere, maybe online, it has to deal with the heart but I have limited knowledge.’ (Participant 4 FGD1, Female, Faculty of art)
‘I‘ve been hearing about this thing over the years and when you have anything to talk about cardio, it has to do with the heart; like cardiac arrest, it deals with heart attack and stuffs like that … The heart is like the central organ of the body and it connects everything, it’s just like you saying all your central port is faulty, every other part of the body will have its kind of shortcomings.’ (Participant 1, FGD1, female, faculty of art)
‘These are diseases related to the heart and blood vessels.’ (Participant 5, FGD1, Female, faculty of law)
‘I think they are diseases that are related to the heart.’ (Partcipant 10, FGD2, Male, Faculty of science)
‘Most times it can be congenital, it can be acquired, basically the acquired form is most times because of the things we do, mostly the things we eat, like cholesterol that can cause something like atherosclerosis.’ (Participant 6, FGD1, Male, Faculty of veterinary medicine)
Themes and subthemes used for this study.
Number | Themes | Subthemes |
---|---|---|
1 | Knowledge of cardiovascular disease | Definition of cardiovascular disease |
2 | Perception of cardiovascular disease risk factor | Individual perceived risk of developing cardiovascular disease |
3 | Problems associated with cardiovascular disease | |
4 | Prevention of cardiovascular disease |
‘Ideally one factor is what we eat and actually the previous speaker actually talked about cholesterol and I think it’s mostly contained in the fatty food we eat, processed food especially something like margarine. It has saturated fat in it. It affects our heart and the fact that we don’t exercise to burn the fat, these things can actually block the vessels of the heart.’ (Participant 5, FGD1, Female, Faculty of law)
‘I would say like lifestyle, because other than the fact that you eat, there’s a difference between eating and eating right and eating in the right proportion … again hereditary.’ (Participant 3, FGD1, Female, Faculty of basic medical science)
‘Talking about BP. High BP contributes to risk factor of having a cardiac arrest.’ (Participant 5, FGD1, Female, Faculty of law)
‘Physical inactivity, when you don’t walk, you just sit in one place and she also talked about dieting too.’ (Participant 5, FGD1, Female, Faculty of law)
‘My input is part of what they have said. Obesity, high blood pressure is related to cardiovascular disease. Fat accumulating in blood vessels that carries blood to and fro, then there would be much pressure on the heart.’ (Participant 5, FGD2, Female Faculty of clinical sciences)
‘I will like to say lack of exercises, taking of tobacco, and most of the cases I got to know that CVD are more in men than women.’ (Participant 6, FGD2, Male, Faculty of clinical sciences)
‘CVD can also be caused by stress, like if you stress yourself too much, you might end up having high blood pressure, some people are over thinking …’ (Participant 6, FGD2, Female, Faculty of art)
‘Things that are stressful, I will start with academics, 8-6 or 8-7 classes.’ (Participant 8, FGD2, Female, Faculty of art)
‘Hypertension’ (Participant 8, FGD2, Male, Basic medical science)
‘I think you can develop stroke’ (Participant 6, FGD2, Female, Faculty of art)
‘We have the likes of patent ductus arteriosus and ventricular septal defects.’ (Participant 1, FGD2, Male, Faculty of clinical sciences)
‘I’ve never really thought of it, may be diet; like junks, I might have the risk factors but then I exercise.’ (Participant 8, FGD2, Male, Faculty of basic medical science)
‘I’ll say my diet too, because I eat a lot of fatty food.’ (Participant 6, FGD2, Female, Faculty of art)
‘I won’t say my lifestyle is exactly healthy but it doesn’t really reflect in my health, for example; I eat a lot of junk food, and I eat a lot but it doesn’t reflect my weight and everything. I don’t feel I’m at risk.’ (Participant 1, FGD2, Male, Faculty of clinical sciences)
‘I don’t think I have the risk, although there were sometimes that I actually had like a heart related issue, like all of a sudden my heart will just start beating fast and for some seconds I won’t be able to do anything, it will just be beating very fast and all of a sudden it’ll stop, so I don’t think I can say that one is even a cardiovascular disease.’ (Participant 9, FGD2, Female, Faculty of art)
‘When we talk of exercise, I exercise enough; I walk from my hall of residence to my faculty.’ (Participant 1, FGD2, Male, Faculty of social science)
‘No family history of hypertension, diabetes. Based on lifestyle I don’t do anything that’s dangerous to my health.’ (Participant 1, FGD2, Male, Faculty of clinical sciences)
‘The only thing I’ve noticed that affects me is stress and I try to rest a lot. No history of hypertension in the family.’ (Participant 2, FGD2, Female, Faculty of art)
‘I feel like with the lifestyle, yes you can actually develop it.’ (Participant 3, FGD2, Male, Faculty of basic medical science)
‘Yes, it could be seen in young people.’ (Participant 6, FGD2, Female, Faculty of art)
‘I actually think that young people are actually most times at risk.’ (Participant 3, FGD1, Female, Faculty of basic medical sciences)
During the discussion, some participants felt that CVD could lead to loss of lives, some considered poor functioning of the heart and increased heart rate as problems associated with CVD, whilst some saw the psycho-social aspect of it, such as stress and hindrance in activities of daily living. This is seen in the excerpts below:
‘Most times we are always stressed and when you are stressed, it could lead to lack of sleep and then you have people having insomnia and bad eating habit for some people, number one is stress, then lack of sleep. The type of stress I’m saying is mental stress.’ (Participant 4, FGD1, Male, Faculty of art)
‘[
‘It’ll lead to loss of live.’ (Participant 2, FGD1, Male, Faculty of social sciences)
‘One major factor is hypertension.’ (Participant 6, FGD1, Male, Faculty of vertenary medicine)
‘Increase in the heart rate.’ (Participant 1, FGD1, Female, Faculty of art)
Stroke; it’s actually something that is rampant in this part of the world.’ (Participant 1, FGD2, Male, Faculty of basic medical sciences)
‘We have the likes of exercise intolerance, poor blood circulation. Exercise intolerance is a condition whereby, should I say, the basic things one has to do he gets fatigued or fagged out easily, like someone walking from here to that door and is already gasping, so they don’t have the endurance to do what a normal person can do.’ (Participant 1, FGD2, Male, Faculty of clinical sciences)
‘I think it can hinder daily activities, also going in and out of the hospital might cost money.’ (Participant 1, FGD2, Male, Faculty of clinical sciences)
Some participants mentioned strategies that the university can put in place to help them reduce CVD risk factor, such as stress-free curriculum and health guides for students. Some participants talked about improving the financial capability of students, reducing the cost of food and making food easily available. This is shown in the excerpts below:
‘Our number one approach will be the poverty aspect … The effect of financial capability on health status in students … a form of poverty alleviation.’ (Participant 6, FGD1, Male, Faculty of vertenary medicine)
‘I’ll suggest to drink a lot of water will be number one. Number two, I think the school management should try and improve their welfare and departments should have avenue to have someone to talk about their problems to. School calendar should create space, so people have time to themselves, when the school is in session, maybe on Fridays-lecture free and Saturdays too.’ (Participant 5, FGD1, Female, Faculty of law)
‘Concerning stress, we’ll try and rest, get rest. Manage your weekends well.’ (Participant 2, FGD2, Female, Faculty of art)
‘I feel like there should be something like the bulletin or something that should be released, like a health guide that tells people what to do like an example these are fruits you can eat, this is vegetable you can eat and it should be something they should be doing regularly or weekly so as to create awareness to students and all. And I also feel like there should be regular check-up, I don’t know if it’s possible like every session, like doctors or nutritionist goes to halls of residence and do like an awareness and then there’s check-up for students.’ (Participant 3, FGD1, Female, Faculty of art)
‘I believe there should also be an education on that whereby parents, especially the onset of pregnancy, they’ll go for proper check-up and to know what their child is predisposed to and they will be able to take appropriate measures.’ (Participant 6, FGD1, Male, Faculty of Clinical Sciences)
‘I think if food can be more affordable for students, it’ll prevent people from eating junks.’ (Participant 2, FGD2, Male, Faculty of clinical sciences)
‘Diet, eating healthy can prevent it, if the person doesn’t take tobacco, reduce alcohol intake and the likes.’ (Participant 3, FGD2, Female, Faculty of art)
‘I feel like proper education of the proper way of life, the kind of life I’d live is not the kind of life a very fat person should live, so, people should look at their family and know the medical history they have and know how to take care of themselves, they should be informed.’ (Participant 3, FGD2, Female, Faculty of art)
Findings from the study showed that overall knowledge level of CVD and its risk factors was poor. Majority of the participants did not have adequate knowledge. The findings are similar to a study on undergraduate students in Palestine, where they also had a fair level of knowledge.
From the qualitative study it was observed that participants did not have good knowledge of CVD and its risk factors, thus buttressing the findings from the quantitative component of the study. Some of the participants could describe CVD as a disease of the heart, with only a few describing it as both a disease of the heart and blood vessel. This is similar to another report.
Our findings showed that participants from this study had a negative perception of the risk of developing heart disease. They felt that they could not have CVD irrespective of their individual lifestyle but other people could have CVD. This is similar to a study conducted amongst female university students in South Africa
A negative perception of being at risk of CVD was further confirmed by the outcome of the qualitative study, where a majority of the participants categorically denied having a risk of heart disease despite their lifestyle risk factors, never believed they could develop heart disease in the future and denied doing anything that would endanger their cardiovascular system. Some participants even claimed to be exercising enough, whilst further probing revealed that their idea of exercise was wrong. Some participants who acknowledged indulging in unhealthy lifestyles like stress and unhealthy eating still denied having a chance of developing CVD. Another study of African American participants equally reported that stress, unhealthy diet and inadequate physical activity were perceived as CVD risk factors.
The findings of this study revealed no significant difference in the knowledge and perception of CVD and its risk factors between male and female participants. This is in contrast to previous Iranian and Singaporean studies,
We observed a significant difference across faculties in the knowledge of CVD and its risk factors. Participants from faculties of veterinary medicine and basic medical science had a majority of students with high knowledge level. This is logical as these two faculties are related to medicine and might have exposed their undergraduates to knowledge about CVD risk factors during the course of their training. This result was further highlighted by the qualitative aspect of the study. The impact of medical exposure on the knowledge and perception of CVD can be seen in the result of a previous Croatian study,
Results of the qualitative study highlighted health, social and financial issues as the problems CVD sufferers face. As it relates to the prevention of CVD, most of the participants dwelt on specific preventive measures that the university could employ rather than general preventive measures against CVD. The participants strongly believed that the university can help them with their lifestyle choices that put them at risk by addressing some of the challenges that increase unhealthy lifestyle choices. Findings from a previous study show that addressing financial issues helps prevent bad lifestyle choices that are risk factors for developing CVD.
Recall bias is associated with questionnaire study as participants may not be able to remember things accurately. However, this study was about knowledge Therefore, this limitation did not pose a serious problem. Besides this, the introduction of the qualitative aspect could have attenuated the problem of recall bias. The outcome of this study provided insights into the level of knowledge and perception of CVD and its risk factors amongst adolescents and young adults in a university setting. This will be useful in identifying any further need for CVD prevention programmes in the setting of this study, thereby reducing possible risk factors and the likelihood of occurrence of CVDs in future.
Undergraduates of the University of Ibadan had a fair knowledge and poor perception about CVD and its risk factors. Their knowledge and perception of CVD did significantly associate with each other and did not significantly vary across gender. Students from medical-related faculties had better knowledge and perception than others. There is a need to improve the knowledge of CVD and its risk factors amongst university undergraduates. This can be in the form of improving public awareness about CVD or inclusion of CVD and its risk factors as a topic in the general study course for non-medical undergraduates. Qualitative study identified learning environment as a major determinant in adopting healthy lifestyle habits such as recreation facilities and time for exercise during school time. There is therefore a need for the university to put in place a more conducive learning environment for students to adopt healthy lifestyles.
The authors acknowledge Dr Odole and 500 undergraduate students of the Physiotherapy Department, University of Ibadan.
The authors have declared that no competing interest exist.
The authors contributions were as follows: N.A.O., T.B.A. and O.O.O. conceptualised the research idea. N.A.O. performed data gathering, data analysis and manuscript writing and revision. T.B.A. did data collection and analysis and drafted the manuscript. E.C.O. drafted the manuscript and revised it. O.O.O. edited and revised the manuscript.
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors.