Changes in Alcohol Consumption during the COVID-19 Pandemic Are Dependent on Initial Consumption Level: Findings from Eight European Countries

Evidence suggests that changes in alcohol consumption during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic were unevenly distributed over consumer groups. We investigated possible inter-country differences in how changes in alcohol consumption are contingent on initial consumption (before or at the start of the pandemic), and how changes in consumption translate into possible changes in the prevalence of heavy drinking. We used data from the European Survey on Alcohol use and COVID-19 (ESAC) conducted in Czechia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, Poland, Spain, and the UK (N = 31921). Past-year alcohol consumption and changes in consumption were measured by AUDIT-C. Drinking habits were compared according to percentiles of pre-pandemic consumption levels, below versus above the 90th percentile. Across countries, drinkers in the highest 10% for pre-pandemic consumption increased their drinking during the pandemic, whereas absolute changes among those initially drinking below this level were modest. The percentage of people reporting <28 alcohol units/week increased significantly in seven of eight countries. During the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, alcohol consumption in the upper decile of the drinkers increased as did the prevalence of heavy drinkers, in contrast with a declining consumption in other groups in the sample..

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2021

Erschienen:

2021

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:18

Enthalten in:

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health - 18(2021), 10547, p 10547

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Ingeborg Rossow [VerfasserIn]
Miroslav Bartak [VerfasserIn]
Kim Bloomfield [VerfasserIn]
Fleur Braddick [VerfasserIn]
Elin K. Bye [VerfasserIn]
Carolin Kilian [VerfasserIn]
Hugo López-Pelayo [VerfasserIn]
Pia Mäkelä [VerfasserIn]
Inger Synnøve Moan [VerfasserIn]
Jacek Moskalewicz [VerfasserIn]
Benjamin Petruzelka [VerfasserIn]
Vladimír Rogalewicz [VerfasserIn]
Jakob Manthey [VerfasserIn]

Links:

doi.org [kostenfrei]
doaj.org [kostenfrei]
www.mdpi.com [kostenfrei]
Journal toc [kostenfrei]
Journal toc [kostenfrei]

Themen:

Alcohol consumption
COVID-19
Comparison
Heavy drinking
Medicine
Polarization
R
Restrictions

doi:

10.3390/ijerph181910547

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

DOAJ004841425