Patients hospitalized during COVID-19 have higher rates of alcohol dependency

A higher proportion of patients hospitalized during the COVID-19 pandemic were alcohol-dependent, according to results presented at the International Liver Congress.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has presented significant challenges to health care services. Hospitals have reported a twofold increase in admissions due to alcohol-related liver disease; patients are sicker and higher numbers are requiring high dependency care,” Mohsan Subhani, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, wrote. “More representative data on the impact of COVID-19 on alcohol use disorder (AUD) among hospitalized patients is lacking.”

To describe the epidemiology of AUD among hospitalized patients, researchers retrospectively compared a pre-COVID-19 cohort of patients (n = 27,356) with a COVID-19 cohort of patients (n = 20,598). They further aimed to identify demographic characteristics that can be used to risk stratify patients for targeted alcohol support services.

According to AUDIT-C alcohol assessment, 18% of patients (95% CI, 16.7-18.4) screened positive for AUD with a higher proportion of alcohol dependent patients in the COVID-19 cohort. Researchers further noted, within the COVID-19 cohort, alcohol-dependent patients had a 16-fold increased risk for mental or behavioral disorders (OR = 15.8); AUD and concomitant COVID-19 correlated with longer hospital stays and younger age at mortality.

“People admitted during the pandemic and screened positive for AUD were more likely to be alcohol dependent, from a high socioeconomic background, in a stable relationship and to have a mental health disorder,” Subhani said. “We hope from this study to implement that idea of social segmentation, to identify these high-risk groups and implement early identification followed by intervention.”