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In March of 2020 sales of alcohol increased by 54% in stores and 262% in online purchases compared to 2019. But then again people were stocking up on everything last March as they hunkered down for an indeterminate quarantine. But what we need to know is how much of that alcohol are people actually drinking? This study by Michael S. Pollard and colleagues from JAMA Open Network compared rates from May of 2019 to June of 2020 using an online survey. [Link]

Published On: 11/18/2020

Duration: 1 minute, 55 seconds

Transcript:

In March of 2020 sales of alcohol increased by 54% in stores and 262% in online purchases compared to 2019. But then again people were stocking up on everything last March as they hunkered down for an indeterminate quarantine. But what we need to know is how much of that alcohol are people actually drinking? This study by Michael S. Pollard and colleagues from JAMA Open Network compared rates from May of 2019 to June of 2020 using an online survey.

Here’s what they learned from the 1,500 respondents. The frequency of alcohol use increased by 14% over the baseline rate of 5-6 days of drinking per week.  So it’s a small increase – about 1 day per week of drinking. Increases were highest in women and middle aged adults. 

In women, days of heavy drinking increased about 50%, or put another way- 1 in 5 women were drinking more heavily an extra 1 day a week. 1 in 10 women saw an increase in alcohol related problems. 

So why are people drinking more? Isolation and quarantine stress might explain some of it, but there has also been a rise of job loss, economic stress, and political conflict in this very trying year.

But regardless of the reason, the bottom line is that we need to ask all of our patients if they are drinking more during the pandemic.

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