[Impact of confinement measures on the Covid-19 pandemic on alcohol risk consumption.]

The public health strategies adopted for the containment of COVID-19 have generated psychosocial stressors that act as risk factors for alcohol consumption. The objectives of this study were to establish whether alcohol risk consumption varied during COVID-19 confinement, and how these variations manifested as a function of different sociodemographic variables.

The study was conducted during confinement with 3,779 participants in Spain. We used an online survey with sociodemographic variables (sex, age and employment situation) and AUDIT-C. Frequency and mean difference analysis were performed (Student t, ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis) to establish intra-group variations before the pandemic compared to during confinement, and intergroup for each time period, reporting effect size.

Alcohol risky consumption presented high prevalence rates before confinement (25,9% of alcohol consumers), showing a general decrease during confinement (15,1%), both in men (X²=224,829; p<0,001) and women (X²=214,324; p<0,001). Women had higher risk consumption rates both before the pandemic (X²=13,124; p<0,001; d=1,067) and during confinement (X²=26,316; p<0,001; d=2,85); however, men reported higher score in AUDIT-C before the pandemic (t₍₂₃₄₃₎=-7,887; p<0,001; d=0,322) and during confinement (t₍₂₃₄₃₎=-5,664; p<0,001; d=0,231). Considering age, significant differences in prevalence among groups were found before the pandemic (X²=22,889; p<0,001) and during confinement (X²=38,302; p<0,001), with the age range 18-24 showing less prevalence. Differences among age groups were also found in the risky consumption scores during confinement (F_(5,2338)=43,849; p=0,001), increasing with age. With regards to the employment situation, differences before the pandemic (KW_(5,2933)=13,467; p=0,019; E²_R=0,44), and during confinement (KW_(5,2933)=149,818; p<0,001; E²_R=0,51) were also found. Self-employed workers showed a higher score in alcohol risky consumption with respect to full-time employees (p=0,047).

The alcohol risky consumption decreased in a generalized way during the confinement by COVID-19, but the changes in prevalence and risk index were dependent on sociodemographic variables. It is recommended that these findings are considered in the design of public health policies and strategies.