ArticlePloS one2021
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Portuguese population: Consumption of alcohol, stimulant drinks, illegal substances, and pharmaceuticals.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence and characterisation of energy drink consumption in Europe: a systematic review.Public health nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- Article
- The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic Caused by SARS-CoV-2 on Hygiene, Health, and Dietary Habits: A Survey-Based Study.Epidemiologia (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Oral Health and Dietary Habits Before and After COVID-19 Restrictions in a Portuguese Adult Population: An Observational Study.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Ten-year analgesic utilization patterns and economic implications in Portugal.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2025Article
- Differences in the Rates of Diagnoses of Mental and Behavioral Disorders Due to Psychoactive Substance Use by Sex and Age during Pre-Pandemic and COVID-19 Pandemic Periods in Kazakhstan.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Blood ACE2 Protein Level Correlates with COVID-19 Severity.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Relation of COVID-19 with liver diseases and their impact on healthcare systems: The Portuguese case.World journal of gastroenterology · 2023Review
- An Exploratory Study about the Characterization of Caffeine Consumption in a Portuguese Sample.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Computational Modelling and Sustainable Synthesis of a Highly Selective Electrochemical MIP-Based Sensor for Citalopram Detection.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Caffeine Intake and Its Sex-Specific Association with General Anxiety: A Cross-Sectional Analysis among General Population Adults.Nutrients · 2022Article
- Benzodiazepines and Z-hypnotics consumption in long-COVID-19 patients: Gender differences and associated factors.Frontiers in medicine · 2022Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe measures implemented by governments worldwide to control and prevent the spread of the COVID-19 have impacted the populations and directly influenced individuals' quality of life and consumption habits.
objectiveThis work investigates the Portuguese population's changes in alcohol, stimulants drinks, illegal substances, and pharmaceutical consumptions habits during the COVID-19 pandemic.
methodsAn online questionnaire comprising seven groups of questions-with one group referring to alcohol, stimulant drinks, illegal substances, and pharmaceuticals consumption habits-was made available to the general adult population of mainland Portugal from the 26th January through the 31st of March 2021. After applying the inclusion criteria, 1666 questionnaires were selected and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics.
resultsOur results show that 48.9% of the participants have alcohol drinking habits and increased their alcohol consumption by 16% after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Furthermore, 8.7% of the respondents felt the need to increase their consumption of stimulant drinks, especially coffee, the most consumed stimulant drink (77.9%). We also observed that of the 3.1% of respondents who are usual consumers of illegal substances, 26.9% increased their consumption of these substances during the COVID-19 pandemic. Concerning pharmaceuticals, 23.2% of the respondents expressed their need to take a therapeutic drug after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The profile of common consumers of alcohol, stimulant drinks, illegal substances, and pharmaceuticals in the COVID-19 pandemic context is contrasting and varies according to gender, age, and employment status.
conclusionsThe COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in the consumption of alcohol, stimulant drinks, illegal substances, and pharmaceuticals prescribed to treat anxiety, depression, and sleep changes in the Portuguese population. These new consumption patterns have probably aggravated domestic violence, mental diseases, and impairment of family quality of life in the Portuguese population.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.