Trends in emergency department visits related to acute alcohol consumption before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, 2018–2020

Esser, Marissa B.; Idaikkadar, Nimi; Kite-Powell, Aaron; Thomas, Cheryll C.; Greenlund, Kurt J.

doi:10.1016/j.dadr.2022.100049

Cited by 8 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 14 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In turn, alcohol consumption increased among large swaths of the population and there appears to have been an increase in Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test scores, especially among those who experienced lockdowns [42, 43]. Even as prior studies identified associations between the strength of a state's alcohol prevention policy environment and protection against numerous alcohol‐related harms [44–48], results from this current study suggest that longstanding alcohol prevention limitations, industry influence and increases to alcohol availability associated with the pandemic may be associated with an intensification of alcohol‐related harms [13, 14].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…Additional research efforts might include an analysis of factors of states that did not experience rolling back of alcohol protection policies to identify characteristics and potential strategies. Lastly, considering continued increases in alcohol-related harms across the US [13,14], a state-by-state assessment of the alcohol industry's role in changes to alcohol prevention policies during the pandemic may advance future prevention efforts [86,87].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Growth in population-level alcohol purchasing likely signals increases in alcohol-related harms [12]. In fact, even as much of the population was encouraged to avoid emergency rooms during the first year of the pandemic, quarterly alcohol-related visits increased by 7-24% in 2020 over 2018/2019 [13]. Furthermore, the number of deaths involving alcohol increased between 2019 and 2020 by 26% (from 78,927 to 99,017), as did the age-adjusted mortality rate (from 27.3 to 34.4 per 100,000) [14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Qualitative study of states' capacity to support alcohol prevention policies during the COVID‐19 pandemic in the USA

Haley

Peddireddy

El‐Harakeh

et al. 2023

Drug and Alcohol Review

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

IntroductionThe onset of the COVID‐19 pandemic accelerated rates of alcohol purchasing and related harms in the USA. The increases followed governors' emergency orders that increased alcohol availability, including the allowance of alcohol home delivery, alcohol to‐go from restaurants and bars, and curbside pickup from retailers.MethodsSemi‐structured interviews were conducted with 53 participants involved in state‐level alcohol prevention policy across 48 states. Interviewees' perspectives on changes to alcohol prevention policies during the COVID‐19 pandemic, including capacity to respond to alcohol‐focused executive and legislative changes to alcohol availability, were explored. Initial codes were developed collectively and refined through successive readings of transcripts using a phenomenological, action‐oriented research approach. Themes were identified semantically after all transcripts were coded and reviewed.ResultsFour themes were developed including: (i) alcohol prevention policies and capacity during COVID‐19; (ii) industry‐related challenges during COVID‐19; (iii) limited pre‐COVID‐19 alcohol prevention capacity; and (iv) needs to strengthen alcohol prevention capacity.Discussion and ConclusionsThe pandemic exacerbated states' capacity limitations for alcohol prevention efforts and created additional impediments to public health messaging about alcohol health risks related to greater alcohol availability. Participants offered a myriad of strategies to improve alcohol prevention and to reduce alcohol‐related harms. Recommendations included dedicated federal and state prioritisation, more funding for community organisations, greater coordination, consistent high‐quality trainings, stronger surveillance and widespread prevention messaging. States' alcohol prevention efforts require dedicated leadership, additional funding and support to strengthen population‐based strategies to reduce sustained alcohol‐related harms associated with increases in alcohol availability.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Qualitative study of states' capacity to support alcohol prevention policies during the COVID‐19 pandemic in the USA

Haley

Peddireddy

El‐Harakeh

et al. 2023

Drug and Alcohol Review

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…We observed an increase in ED visits for AH from 2016 to 2019, even though the total number of ED visits did not change over the study period. Interestingly, this increase occurred before the COVID-19 pandemic that had an outsized impact on alcohol consumption and ALD incidence (Gao et al, 2023). Even though ED visits for AH were most common in people aged 45-64, they increased the most in patients aged 25-44.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…ED utilization data related to acute alcohol consumption have been reported by others (Esser et al, 2022;White et al, 2018) Characteristics of ED visits that were examined include: demographic data such as age and sex, presence of co-morbidities and complications of liver disease, insurance payor, location of hospital, geographic region, and median household income. The primary outcome of interest was the rate of emergency department visits for AH.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emergency services utilization by patients with alcohol‐associated hepatitis: An analysis of national trends

Sengupta,

Anand,

Lopez

et al. 2024

Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundHospitalization and mortality in patients with alcohol‐associated hepatitis (AH), a severe form of liver disease, continue to increase over time. Given the severity of the illness, most hospitalized patients with AH are admitted from the emergency department (ED). However, there are no data on ED utilization by patients with AH. Thus, the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS) dataset was analyzed to determine the ED utilization for AH.MethodsTemporal trends (2016–2019) and outcomes of ED visits for AH were determined. Primary or secondary AH diagnoses were based on coding priority. Numbers of patients evaluated in the ED, severity of disease, complications of liver disease, and discharge disposition were analyzed. Crude and adjusted rates were examined, and temporal trends evaluated using logistic regression with orthogonal polynomial contrasts for each year.ResultsThere were 466,014,370 ED visits during 2016–2019, of which 448,984 (0.096%) were for AH, 85.0% of which required hospitalization. The rate of visits for AH (primary and secondary) between 2016 and 2019 increased from 85 to 106.8/100,000 ED visits. The rate of secondary AH increased more than the rate of primary AH (from 68.6 to 86.5 vs. from 16.4 to 20.3/100,000 ED visits). Patients aged 45–64 years had the highest rate of ED visits for AH, which decreased during the study period, while the rate of ED visits for AH increased in those aged 25–44 years (from 38.5% to 42.9%). The severity of disease (ascites, hepatic encephalopathy, and acute kidney injury) also increased over time. Medicaid and private insurance were the most common payors for patients seeking care in the ED for AH.ConclusionsTemporal trends show an overall increase in ED utilization rates for AH, more patients requiring hospitalization, and an increase in the proportion of younger patients presenting to the ED with AH.

show abstract

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on alcohol use and smoking habits

Çok

Iyigündoğdu

2023

Journal of Substance Use

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Trends in emergency department visits related to acute alcohol consumption before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, 2018–2020

Cited by 8 publications

References 14 publications

Qualitative study of states' capacity to support alcohol prevention policies during the COVID‐19 pandemic in the USA

Qualitative study of states' capacity to support alcohol prevention policies during the COVID‐19 pandemic in the USA

Emergency services utilization by patients with alcohol‐associated hepatitis: An analysis of national trends

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on alcohol use and smoking habits

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About