Factors associated with an increase in alcohol consumption and tobacco use during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study of data from 105 countries

Abstract

INTRODUCTION The COVID-19 pandemic has inevitably led to monumental challenges, and alcohol drinking and tobacco use have unlikely been spared. This cross-sectional survey reports on factors associated with an increase in alcohol drinking and tobacco use during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS An online survey conducted in 2020, generated data from 14899 adults residing in 105 countries. Dependent variables were changes in alcohol drinking and tobacco use. Independent variables were age, sex, education level, job loss, lost or reduced wages, investment/retirement benefits, interrupted substance addiction care, and income level of the countries. Multilevel logistic regression analysis was computed to explore the associations between dependent and independent variables in adjusted models using the backward stepwise method. The probability of including or excluding a covariate was set at p(in)<0.05 and p(out)>0.1, respectively. RESULTS Of the regular alcohol consumers (N=4401), 22.9% reported an increase in their alcohol drinking. Of the regular tobacco users (N=2718), 31% reported an increase in their tobacco use. Job loss (Alcohol: AOR=1.26; Tobacco: AOR=1.32) and lost/reduced wages (Alcohol: AOR=1.52; Tobacco: AOR=1.52) were associated with higher odds of increased alcohol drinking and tobacco use. Many interruptions to addiction care (AOR=1.75) were associated with higher odds of increased alcohol drinking. Whereas no interruption to addiction care was associated with lower odds of increased alcohol drinking (AOR=0.77). Also, none (AOR=0.66) or some (AOR=0.70) interruptions to addiction care were associated with lower odds of increased tobacco use. CONCLUSIONS This global survey alludes to the unintended consequences of the current COVID-19 pandemic on alcohol drinking and tobacco use. It is critical that the strategies for emergency responses should include support to ameliorate the impact of financial distress and disruption in substance dependence treatment services.

A Cross-Sectional Survey on the Use of Tobacco, Attempts on Cessation, and Locus of Control Among College Students

“…This study found that college students have strong ILoC. It has been confirmed by previous studies showing that tobacco users in both academic settings and workplaces are predominantly internal [ 11 - 16 ]. Healthcare professionals should consider the consistency of smokers in numerous studies, including the one above, to design successful interventions to affect patients.…”

“…Policy and environmental issues are thought to significantly impact patients with internal LoC, which others have evaluated very strongly [ 23 ]. This is logical, as managers and employers often formulate regulations where students smoke [ 16 ]. “Policies to limit smoking behavior in the workplace by minimizing smoking opportunities, reducing incentives to smoke, and improving social support for quitting,” argues Moskowitz.…”

Alcohol consumption under lockdown measures during the COVID-19 pandemic in three Nordic countries

“…If data is pooled from many countries, data may become heterogenous and possibly non-representative if the number of participants per country is low. For instance, in the survey by Quadri et al (2023), the average number of participants per country was 142. Pooled data may also become difficult to interpret when number of participants varies greatly between countries.…”

“…Economic hardship could therefore also increase alcohol consumption due to psychological distress. One survey conducted with 14,899 residents from 105 countries suggested that job losses and lost or reduced wages may have increased alcohol consumption (Quadri et al, 2023). But in many countries, alcohol consumption during the first months of the pandemic seemed to have decreased rather than increased (Kilian et al, 2021).…”

“…Young age, psychiatric problems including depression, female sex, work-related stressors were identified as further risk factors (Garnett et al, 2021; Jacob et al, 2021; Oksanen et al, 2021). Decreased access to addiction care may also have driven alcohol consumption up (Quadri et al, 2023).…”