Alcohol Use Disorder: How the Pandemic Affected Rising Death Rates Among Young Adults Due to This Condition?

A study recently showed that young adults aged 25 to 44 had gone through the steepest upward trend in alcohol use disorder mortality.

As specified in a EurekAlert report, according to new research by investigators at Cedars-Sinai, deaths involving alcohol use disorder increased substantially, specifically during the pandemic.

In this recently published research, the study authors utilized predictive modeling to compare expected, also known as projected, alcohol use disorder mortality rates to the actual ones.

As a result, they discovered that alcohol use disorder-associated mortality rates rose among all ages and genders during the pandemic.

Alcohol-Related Conditions

According to the study's lead author Yee Hui Yeo, MD, MSc, during the first few months of the pandemic, "my colleagues and I saw an increased number of patients" undergoing treatment for acute alcohol use-related conditions in the intensive care unit and the entire medical center.

The lead author also said they became aware of reports of increased alcohol use-related complications from single centers. The rise in number prompted them to think that perhaps this was a substantial public health crisis.

The researchers obtained de-identified mortality data from 2012 to 2019 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention database that registers over 99 percent of all deaths in the United States.

Then, they employed predictive modeling to identify 2020 and 2021 forecasted mortality rates based on trends during the past years and compared those with the rates observed.

In their study published in the JAMA Network Open journal, what the study investigators found in their analysis reflects what they had been witnessing anecdotally in their patients, and academic papers were tracking difficulties like alcohol-related liver disease, explained Yeo.

"What we found in our analysis reflects what we had been seeing anecdotally in our patients and academic papers tracking complications like alcohol-related liver disease," Yeo said.

Young Adults More Affected by the Surge During the Pandemic

In 2020, the study investigators found that the observed alcohol use disorder-related deaths were approximately 25 percent compared to the forecasted rates. The observed rates were roughly 22 percent higher than predicted the following year.

The rise in forecasted versus observed mortality was similar for both genders, roughly 25 percent for women and men in 2020 versus 20 percent for women and 22 percent for men the following year.

Even though the older adult group got the highest rate throughout the study, the younger cohort aged 25 to 44 years old suffered the highest surge during the pandemic, which has warranted public attention.

Yeo elaborated that they know, too, that alcohol use disorder is frequently under-reported. Therefore, actual mortality rates linked to alcohol use may be even higher than reported.

Preventing Secondary Complications

A Cedars-Sinai report specified that the study's lead author also explained that in publishing this article, they want policymakers and physicians on the front lines to know that there is certainly a substantial during this global health crisis surge in alcohol use disorder-related deaths.

Yeo added that they also want to recognize that patients who die from alcohol use disorder-related causes are inclined to have social determinants of health such as lower socioeconomic status, making it more difficult for them to access health care and provide help.

Lastly, the study authors want to guarantee that patients who seek treatment for substance or alcohol use have access to follow-up care to prevent secondary complications.

Related information about alcohol use during the pandemic is shown on ANI News's YouTube video below:

Check out more news and information on Alcohol Consumption in Science Times.