(NewsNation) — Stress-related drinking increased during the pandemic, and a new study suggests those levels of alcohol use continued for years.
Researchers studied the trends in alcohol use after the COVID-19 pandemic, comparing data from 2018, 2020 and 2022.
The national study, published in Annals of Internal Medicine on Tuesday, surveyed about 25,000 to 31,000 people in each of those years.
The prevalence of any alcohol use and heavy alcohol use increased between 2018 and 2020.
“Our study suggests that these increases persisted in 2022 and that certain subgroups may have had greater increases in heavy alcohol use,” the authors wrote.
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defines heavy drinking as consuming five or more drinks on any day or 15 or more drinks per week for males and four or more drinks on any day or eight or more drinks per week for females.
“Potential causes of this sustained increase include normalization of and adaptation to increased drinking due to stress from the pandemic and disrupted access to medical services,” the researchers said. “Our results highlight an alarming public health issue that may require a combination of policy changes,” the researchers wrote.
They recommend increased screening efforts, quick access to behavioral health treatments by health care professionals and community-based interventions for at-risk populations.
