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

Author

Listed:
  • Ingeborg Rossow

    (Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Drugs, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, 0213 Oslo, Norway)

  • Miroslav Bartak

    (Department of Addictology, First Faculty of Medicine and General University Hospital in Prague, Charles University, 12800 Praha, Czech Republic)

  • Kim Bloomfield

    (Centre for Alcohol and Drug Research, Aarhus University, 2400 Copenhagen, Denmark)

  • Fleur Braddick

    (Clínic Foundation for Biomedical Research (FCRB), 08037 Barcelona, Spain)

  • Elin K. Bye

    (Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Drugs, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, 0213 Oslo, Norway)

  • Carolin Kilian

    (Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität Dresden, 01187 Dresden, Germany)

  • Hugo López-Pelayo

    (Clinical Addictions Research Group (GRAC-GRE), Psychiatry Department, Neurosciences Institute, Hospital Clínic, Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer, University of Barcelona, 08037 Barcelona, Spain)

  • Pia Mäkelä

    (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, 00271 Helsinki, Finland)

  • Inger Synnøve Moan

    (Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Drugs, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, 0213 Oslo, Norway)

  • Jacek Moskalewicz

    (Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, 02-957 Warsaw, Poland)

  • Benjamin Petruzelka

    (Department of Addictology, First Faculty of Medicine and General University Hospital in Prague, Charles University, 12800 Praha, Czech Republic)

  • Vladimír Rogalewicz

    (Department of Addictology, First Faculty of Medicine and General University Hospital in Prague, Charles University, 12800 Praha, Czech Republic)

  • Jakob Manthey

    (Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität Dresden, 01187 Dresden, Germany
    Centre for Interdisciplinary Addiction Research, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
    Department of Psychiatry, Medical Faculty, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany)

Abstract

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Ingeborg Rossow & Miroslav Bartak & Kim Bloomfield & Fleur Braddick & Elin K. Bye & Carolin Kilian & Hugo López-Pelayo & Pia Mäkelä & Inger Synnøve Moan & Jacek Moskalewicz & Benjamin Petruzelka & Vla, 2021. "Changes in Alcohol Consumption during the COVID-19 Pandemic Are Dependent on Initial Consumption Level: Findings from Eight European Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-12, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:19:p:10547-:d:651764
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jan Chodkiewicz & Monika Talarowska & Joanna Miniszewska & Natalia Nawrocka & Przemyslaw Bilinski, 2020. "Alcohol Consumption Reported during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Initial Stage," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-11, June.
    2. Ingeborg Rossow & Elin K. Bye & Inger Synnøve Moan & Carolin Kilian & Jørgen G. Bramness, 2021. "Changes in Alcohol Consumption during the COVID-19 Pandemic—Small Change in Total Consumption, but Increase in Proportion of Heavy Drinkers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-11, April.
    3. Silvia Eiken Alpers & Jens Christoffer Skogen & Silje Mæland & Ståle Pallesen & Åsgeir Kjetland Rabben & Linn-Heidi Lunde & Lars Thore Fadnes, 2021. "Alcohol Consumption during a Pandemic Lockdown Period and Change in Alcohol Consumption Related to Worries and Pandemic Measures," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-11, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Nagisa Sugaya & Tetsuya Yamamoto & Naho Suzuki & Chigusa Uchiumi, 2021. "Alcohol Use and Its Related Psychosocial Effects during the Prolonged COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan: A Cross-Sectional Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-13, December.
    2. Nagisa Sugaya & Tetsuya Yamamoto & Naho Suzuki & Chigusa Uchiumi, 2023. "Change in Alcohol Use during the Prolonged COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Psychosocial Factors: A One-Year Longitudinal Study in Japan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-16, February.
    3. Sandra Radoš Krnel & Maja Roškar & Marjetka Hovnik Keršmanc & Maruša Rehberger & Gorazd Levičnik & Ada Hočevar Grom, 2022. "Changes in Alcohol Consumption among Different Population Groups during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: Outcomes of the Slovenian Cross-Sectional National Survey (SI-PANDA)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-15, October.

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