Purchasing, consumption, demographic and socioeconomic variables associated with shifts in alcohol consumption during the COVID‐19 pandemic

Abstract

Introduction and Aims Restrictions introduced to reduce the spread of COVID‐19 have had major impacts on the living circumstances of Australians. This paper aims to provide insight into shifts in alcohol consumption and associated factors during the epidemic. Design and Methods A cross‐sectional convenience sample of 2307 Australians aged 18 and over who drank at least monthly was recruited through social media. Respondents were asked about their alcohol consumption and purchasing in 2019 prior to the epidemic plus similar questions about their experiences in the month prior to being surveyed between 29 April and 16 May 2020. Results Reports of average consumption before (3.53 drinks per day [3.36, 3.71 95% confidence interval]) and during (3.52 [3.34, 3.69]) the pandemic were stable. However, young men and those who drank more outside the home in 2019 reported decreased consumption during the pandemic, and people with high levels of stress and those who bulk‐bought alcohol when restrictions were announced reported an increase in consumption relative to those who did not. Discussion and Conclusions A reported increase in consumption among those experiencing more stress suggests that some people may have been drinking to cope during the epidemic. Conversely, the reported decrease in consumption among those who drank more outside of their home in 2019 suggests that closing all on‐trade sales did not result in complete substitution of on‐premise drinking with home drinking in this group. Monitoring of relevant subgroups to assess long‐term changes in consumption in the aftermath of the epidemic is recommended.

Substance Use in Mild-COVID-19 Patients: A Retrospective Study

“…No differences were found for cannabis use. These results contrast with the initial studies reporting increased substance use in the general population during the COVID-19 containment period in other countries, including the U.S. (15), U.K. (20), France (16), Belgium (17), but are more in line with the findings from Latin America and Caribbean (18) and Australia (13,14). Decreased alcohol and tobacco use in mild COVID-19 patients seem to follow the decreased levels of substance use in individuals experiencing or being afraid of contracting diseases (29), rather than the increase found in those facing stressful situations (30).…”

“…General population studies show that substance use has been predominantly increasing during the pandemic (13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18). In a web-survey during the social distance measures in Belgium, individuals reported more alcohol and tobacco use than before the lockdown (17).…”

“…Callinan et al (14) conducted a cross-sectional study with 1,684 adult Australians who drink at least monthly. They found that harmful drinking decreased during social distancing measures, especially among (13,14). In a cross-sectional survey of 12,328 adults within the 33 of Latin American and Caribbean, there was a decrease in alcohol use but a stability in heavy episodic drinking between 2019 and 2020 (during the pandemic) (18).…”

“…In the U.S., alcohol use and heavy drinking before and during the COVID-19 pandemic increased by 14% in comparison to 2019 (15). This increase has particularly affected some subgroups, such as people with previous substance use disorders, with increased levels of stress, or who engage in self-isolation (13,14,19,20). In Australia, those experiencing high levels of stress have a higher increase in harmful drinking than those reporting lower stress levels (13,14).…”

“…This increase has particularly affected some subgroups, such as people with previous substance use disorders, with increased levels of stress, or who engage in self-isolation (13,14,19,20). In Australia, those experiencing high levels of stress have a higher increase in harmful drinking than those reporting lower stress levels (13,14). Kim et al (20) conducted a cross-sectional telephone survey of patients with pre-existing alcohol disorders registered in an alcohol care service in the United Kingdom, 2 months after the beginning of the containment measures.…”