In sickness and in health? Examining the co-occurrence and concordance of healthy lifestyle behaviours among spouses in Namibia

Abstract

Objectives: this study examines the extent to which healthy lifestyle behaviours co-occur in individuals. We also explore within-couples concordance in healthy lifestyle behaviours in Namibia. 

Study design: cross-sectional study. 

Methods: we used data from 910 couples (1820 individuals) who were interviewed in the Namibia Demographic and Health Survey conducted in 2013. We assessed five different healthy lifestyle behaviours (alcohol non-consumption, non-cigarette smoking, healthy diet, physical exercise, and normal body mass index). An individual healthy lifestyle index (HLI) was derived by summing values across the five behaviours, with a binary indicator categorising each individual's lifestyle behaviour as ‘healthy’ (HLI ≥ 3) or ‘unhealthy’ (HLI < 3). Multivariate logistic regression models were fitted to explore the association between binary indicators of men's and their female partner's healthy lifestyles. 

Results: about 48% of men and 57% of women had at least three co-occurring healthy lifestyle behaviours. A third of couples were concordant in reporting a healthy lifestyle (HLI ≥ 3), while 27% were concordant in reporting an unhealthy lifestyle (HLI < 3). In multivariate analysis, Namibian men were almost twice (aOR, 1.90; 95%CI, 1.43–2.52) as likely to have a healthy lifestyle if their female partner also had a healthy lifestyle, compared with those who had a female partner who had an unhealthy lifestyle, after adjusting for relevant individual, partner and household characteristics. 

Conclusion: the observed co-occurrence of healthy lifestyle behaviours and spousal concordance suggests it may be beneficial to consider couples a target for intervention when aiming to promote healthy behaviours and reduce cardiovascular diseases in Namibia.

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