A longitudinal study of alcohol consumption among adults in Victoria, Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic

Tianhui Ke, Michael Livingston, Yanqin Zhang, Damian Pavlyshyn, Aimée Altermatt, Alexander Thomas, Thi Nguyen, Shelley Walker, Sophie Hill, Alison Coelho, Alisa Pedrana, Mark Stoové, Margaret Hellard, Katherine B Gibney and Anna L Wilkinson

PLOS ONE, 2024, vol. 19, issue 12, 1-18

Abstract: Objectives: Whilst public health measures were effective in reducing COVID-19 transmission, unintended negative consequences may have occurred. This study aims to assess changes alcohol consumption and the heavy episodic drinking (HED) during the pandemic. Methods: Data were from the Optimise Study, a longitudinal cohort of Australian adults September 2020–August 2022 that over-sampled priority populations at higher risk of contracting COVID-19, developing severe COVID-19 or experiencing adverse consequences of lockdowns. Frequency of alcohol consumption (mean number of days per week) and past-week HED were self-reported. Generalised linear models estimated the association between time and (1) the frequency of alcohol consumption and (2) heavy episodic drinking. Results: Data from 688 participants (mean age: 44.7 years, SD:17.0; 72.7% female) and 10,957 surveys were included. Mean days of alcohol consumption per week decreased from 1.92 (SD: 1.92) in 2020 to 1.54 (SD:1.94) in 2022. The proportion of participants reporting HED decreased from 25.4% in 2020 to 13.1% in 2022. During two lockdown periods, known as “lockdown five”, (OR:0.65, 95%CI [0.47,0.90]) and “lockdown six” (OR:0.76, 95%CI [0.67,0.87]), participants were less likely to report HED. Conclusions: Participants alcohol drinking frequency and HED decreased during the pandemic. This study provides a strong description of alcohol consumption during the pandemic and suggests that lockdowns did not have the unintended consequences of increased alcohol consumption.

Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0313599

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0313599

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