Alcohol-Related Deaths Spiked During the Pandemic, a Study Shows

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Alcohol-Related Deaths Spiked During the Pandemic, a Study Shows​

The deaths were up 25 percent in 2020 compared with 2019, amid heightened stress factors and delayed treatment, according to a new report.

Research suggests that alcohol consumption and related harms increased during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Studies reported increases in drinking to cope with stress,1 transplants for alcohol-associated liver disease,2 and emergency
department visits for alcohol withdrawal.3 We examined mortality data to assess whether alcohol-related deaths increased during the pandemic as well.


Methods
US mortality data from the National Center for Health Statistics were used to compare numbers and rates of alcohol-related and
all-cause deaths among all individuals 16 years or older in 2019 and 2020. Provisional data for the first half of 2021 (as of January 2022)
were obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research. The National Institutes of Health Office of Intramural Research
deemed the project exempt from institutional review board oversight.

Death certificates list an underlying cause and up to 20 multiple (contributing) causes. Deaths were identified as alcohol-related if an
alcohol-induced cause was listed as an underlying or contributing cause (Supplement).4 Age-adjusted rates were calculated using the 2000 US
Standard Population. For age groups, age-specific rates were presented instead. Comparisons between rates in 2019 and 2020 overall and by age
group and sex were conducted with SAS, version 9.4 (TS Level 1M3) using 2-tailed z tests with an α level of .05.

Results
The number of deaths involving alcohol increased between 2019 and 2020 (from 78 927 to 99 017 [relative change, 25.5%]), as did the
age-adjusted rate (from 27.3 to 34.4 per 100 000 [relative change, 25.9%]) (Table). Comparatively, deaths from all causes had smaller
relative increases in number (from 2 823 460 to 3 353 547 [18.8%]) and rate (from 938.3 to 1094.3 per 100 000 [16.6%]). Alcohol-related deaths accounted for 2.8% of all deaths in 2019 and 3.0% in 2020.

The Figure presents the number of alcohol-related deaths in 2019 and 2020 by month, with provisional data included for the first 6 months of 2021.

Rates increased for all age groups, with the largest increases occurring for people aged 35 to 44 years (from 22.9 to 32.0 per 100 000 [39.7%])
and 25 to 34 years (from 11.8 to 16.1 per 100 000 [37.0%]). Increases in rates were similar for females (from 13.7 to 17.5 per 100 000 [27.3%])
and males (from 42.1 to 52.6 per 100 000 [25.1%]) (Table).

The number of deaths with an underlying cause of alcohol-associated liver diseases increased from 24 106 to 29 504 (22.4%) and the number of
deaths with an underlying cause of alcohol-related mental and behavioral disorders increased from 11 261 to 15 211 (35.1%). Opioid overdose deaths
involving alcohol as a contributing cause increased from 8503 to 11 969 (40.8%). Deaths in which alcohol contributed to overdoses specifically on synthetic
opioids other than methadone (eg, fentanyl) increased from 6302 to 10 032 (59.2%).

During 2020, a total of 2042 death certificates listed alcohol and COVID-19 as causes (1475 listed COVID-19 as the underlying cause, 323 listed alcohol
as the underlying cause). As such, only a small proportion of the increase in alcohol-related deaths involved COVID-19 directly.

Article Information
Accepted for Publication: March 5, 2022.

Published Online: March 18, 2022. doi:10.1001/jama.2022.4308

Corresponding Author: Aaron White, PhD, Office of the Director, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, 6700B Rockledge Dr, Bethesda, MD 20852 (whitea4@mail.nih.gov).

Author Contributions: Dr White had full access to all of the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.

 

[silver gurl]

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/210304/dq210304a-eng.htm

 

[stickygirl]

It's all down to pickling, which was the main driver during lockdown. I pickled beetroot but if others pickled their liver then it only adds weight to the theory

 

[silver gurl]

I quit all alcohol consumption right before Covid hit. What was I thinking

 

[thør]

I quit all alcohol consumption right before Covid hit. What was I thinking

I bought 3 cases of wine on Friday, in preparation for the next wave.

 

[rockcasbah]

I bought 3 cases of wine on Friday, in preparation for the next wave of alcohol related deaths.

That’s the spirits!

 

[silver gurl]

I bought 3 cases of wine on Friday, in preparation for the next wave.

I had a glass last weekend while in the States.
Enjoy! And let’s hope this is the last wave.

 

[jaF0]

Was Iggy Fokker one of them?

 

[PMarky]

I noticed by own booze consumption creeping up during Covid. It was a case of all there is to do is drink and screw, and the wife's health doesn't permit the latter.