These factors are likely to affect other health-related behaviours and may generate a change in the consumption of alcohol and other substances (Carrico et al., 2020, Clay and Parker, 2020). In patients with alcohol-related liver disease, increased alcohol consumption can increase new onset hepatic decompensation. During treatment, patients with alcoholic hepatitis treated with steroids treatment may have increased susceptibility to severe COVID-19 infection. Higher mortality has been observed in patients with alcohol-related liver disease and COVID-19 66▪. In an Indian study, patients with liver cirrhosis with COVID-19 infection had poor outcomes, with worse outcomes among those presenting with acute on chronic liver failure 67.
TEXT REVIEW
The authors would like to thank the various organizations and individuals who helped distribute the survey and Brian Neelon for his statistical guidance. Surveys from Australia have found no increase in the alcohol use in persons with preexisting mental illness 64▪. Amanda Roberts and Jim Rogers contributed to the study selection, data extraction, data analyses, and manuscript drafting. Rachael Mason, Aloysius Niroshan Siriwardena, Todd Hogue, Gregory Adam Whitley & Graham R. Law contributed to the data analyses and manuscript drafting.
4. Factors associated with alcohol use
Representatives included two lay members, a substance misuse charity employee, and a registered health care clinician. Facing the COVID-19 (new coronavirus disease) pandemic, the countries of the world must take decisive action to stop the spread of the virus. In these critical circumstances, it is essential that everyone is informed about other health risks and hazards so that they can stay safe and healthy. Here we present such data as are available on per capita alcohol sales during the COVID-19 pandemic. While hand sanitizers containing 60-95% ethyl alcohol can help destroy the coronavirus on surfaces, drinking alcohol offers no protection from the virus.
3. Data extraction
The COVID-19 pandemic has had considerable impact on alcohol use, with an increase in alcohol related emergencies, changes in alcohol use patterns, increased risk of contracting COVID-19, effect on alcohol policies and sales, and an effect on vulnerable groups. It is essential to understand and respond to the current situation, intervene early, and prevent further repercussions of the pandemic. Although some nations banned alcohol sales completely during lockdown, others declared it as an essential commodity, resulting in different problems across countries. Alcohol use has added to the burden of the problem particularly among vulnerable groups like the adolescents, elderly, patients with cancer, as well as health professionals.
Please note the terminology to denote the time-period of the review changes from phrases such ‘pandemic’, ‘lockdown’, ‘social-distancing’ or ‘quarantine’ depending on the terminology used within the respective study being described. Likewise, the dates of the time periods for data collection vary for different countries depending on when quarantine measures were instituted. There is an increased need for treatment for alcohol and other substance use related problems during the pandemic. Increased targeting and evidence-based interventions will also be important in the period which follows this pandemic, to improve the quality of life for individuals and families, but also to prevent additional costs to society and health systems.
- In US, online tweets related to alcohol blackouts significantly increased during the lockdown 99.
- Three studies exclusively reported a decrease in alcohol use because of the pandemic (López-Bueno et al., 2020, Đogaš et al., 2020, Wang et al., 2020).
- After cleaning the data—which included removing those who did not pass the screener question, did not consent to participate, or whose alcohol consumption was greater than three standard deviations above the mean—the final sample included data from 832 participants.
This raises the need to appropriately address SUD problems contextually in different phases of the pandemic 7. Special attention needs to be focused on preventive aspects of alcohol related harms 8. To understand the Why Do Women Face More Stigma for Substance Addiction effect of COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown on persons with alcohol use disorders. Studies that investigated emergency department patient admissions related to drug use demonstrated that they increased during lockdown (Glober et al., 2020, Leichtle et al., 2020, Marais et al., 2020, Ochalek et al., 2020, Slavova et al., 2020, Wainwright et al., 2020). In contrast, seven studies reported an increase in the use of alcohol during the pandemic (Ahmed et al., 2020, Boehnke et al., 2020, Gritsenko et al., 2020, Lechner et al., 2020, Rogers et al., 2020, Sidor and Rzymski, 2020, Sun et al., 2020). In fact, it is possible that excessive alcohol consumption can increase the risk of developing COVID-19-induced illness, as this can affect the immune system.
Furthermore, alcohol induced liver disease has been found to be an independent risk factor for death following COVID-19 68. The COVID-19 pandemic has also seen serious repercussions for vulnerable groups with substance use disorders (SUD), including alcohol 2. The pandemic has resulted in changes in patterns of drinking, an increase in alcohol withdrawal, disruption in access to care, and increase in illicit alcohol availability 3.
While hand sanitizers containing 60-95% ethyl alcohol can help destroy the coronavirus on surfaces, drinking alcohol—including beverages with high percentages of alcohol—offers no protection from the virus. The concentration of alcohol in the blood after one standard drink is in the range of 0.01–0.03% (a blood alcohol level of 0.01–0.03 gm%), which is a tiny fraction of the concentration needed to produce an antiseptic action. Compared with all other causes of death, which increased by 16%, alcohol-related deaths increased at a higher rate. Researchers compared the number of alcohol-related deaths in 2019 against the number of similar deaths in 2020. The incidence of alcohol-related death was then compared with all other causes of death during that period of time. But because of that increase during the first year, researchers from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) wanted to know whether there was a corresponding increase in alcohol-related deaths in 2020.