Alcohol and Tobacco Use in a Tuberculosis Treatment Cohort during South Africa’s COVID-19 Sales Bans: A Case Series

Bronwyn Myers, Tara Carney, Jennifer Rooney, Samantha Malatesta, Laura F. White, Charles D. H. Parry, Tara C. Bouton, Elizabeth J. Ragan, Charles Robert Horsburgh, Robin M. Warren and Karen R. Jacobson
Additional contact information
Bronwyn Myers: Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Tygerberg 7505, South Africa
Tara Carney: Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Tygerberg 7505, South Africa
Jennifer Rooney: Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA 02119, USA
Samantha Malatesta: Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Boston University, Boston, MA 02119, USA
Laura F. White: Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Boston University, Boston, MA 02119, USA
Charles D. H. Parry: Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Tygerberg 7505, South Africa
Tara C. Bouton: Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA 02119, USA
Elizabeth J. Ragan: Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA 02119, USA
Charles Robert Horsburgh: Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA 02119, USA
Robin M. Warren: Department of Science and Innovation, National Research Foundation Centre of Excellence in Biomedical Tuberculosis Research, South Africa Medical Research Council for Tuberculosis Research, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg 7505, South Africa
Karen R. Jacobson: Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA 02119, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 10, 1-9

Abstract: Background: South Africa temporarily banned alcohol and tobacco sales for about 20 weeks during the COVID-19 lockdown. We described changes in alcohol and tobacco consumption after implementation of these restrictions among a small number of participants in a tuberculosis treatment cohort. Method: The timeline follow-back procedure and Fägerstrom test for nicotine dependence was used to collect monthly alcohol and tobacco use information. We report changes in heavy drinking days (HDD), average amount of absolute alcohol (AA) consumed per drinking day, and cigarettes smoked daily during the alcohol and tobacco ban compared to use prior to the ban. Results: Of the 61 participants for whom we have pre-ban and within-ban alcohol use information, 17 (27.9%) reported within-ban alcohol use. On average, participants reported one less HDD per fortnight (interquartile range (IQR): ?4, 1), but their amount of AA consumed increased by 37.4 g per drinking occasion (IQR: ?65.9 g, 71.0 g). Of 53 participants who reported pre-ban tobacco use, 17 (32.1%) stopped smoking during the ban. The number of participants smoking >10 cigarettes per day decreased from 8 to 1. Conclusions: From these observations, we hypothesize that policies restricting alcohol and tobacco availability seem to enable some individuals to reduce their consumption. However, these appear to have little effect on the volume of AA consumed among individuals with more harmful patterns of drinking in the absence of additional behavior change interventions.

Keywords: COVID; alcohol sales ban; South Africa; heavy drinking; alcohol policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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