Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34823488›Full record

ArticleBMC public health2021

Changes in the dollar value of per capita alcohol, essential, and non-essential retail sales in Canada during COVID-19.

Daniel T Myran, Brendan T Smith, Nathan Cantor, Lennon Li, Sudipta Saha, Catherine Paradis, Rebecca Jesseman, Peter Tanuseputro, Erin Hobin

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
1.2field-weighted citation impact, top 21% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 11 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Observational
  2. Article
  3. Epidemiology and Disease Burden of Alcohol Associated Liver Disease.Journal of clinical and experimental hepatology
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Daniel T MyranClinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, The Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus, 1053 Carling Ave, Ottawa, ON, K1Y 4E9, Canada. dmyra088@uottawa.ca.
Brendan T SmithPublic Health Ontario, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Nathan CantorClinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, The Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus, 1053 Carling Ave, Ottawa, ON, K1Y 4E9, Canada.
Lennon LiPublic Health Ontario, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Sudipta SahaDalla School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Catherine ParadisCanadian Centre on Substance Abuse and Addiction, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Rebecca JessemanCanadian Centre on Substance Abuse and Addiction, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Peter TanuseputroClinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, The Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus, 1053 Carling Ave, Ottawa, ON, K1Y 4E9, Canada.
Erin HobinPublic Health Ontario, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Ottawa Hospital Research InstituteCanadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction · CAPublic Health Ontario · CAUniversity of Toronto · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMultiple survey reports suggest that alcohol use has increased in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, less is known about how per capita alcohol sales, which predict population-level alcohol use, have changed and whether changes in alcohol sales differ from changes in sales of other products due to pandemic factors.

methodsWe obtained monthly retail sales data by industry from Statistics Canada, for the six largest provinces in Canada (containing 93% of the national population), between January 2010 and November 2020, representing time before and 9 months after the start of the pandemic in Canada. We used an interrupted time series analysis to estimate pandemic impacts on the dollar value of monthly per capita (per individuals 15+ years) alcohol, essential and non-essential retail sales. We adjusted our analyses for pre-pandemic sales trends, inflation, seasonality and changing population demographics over time.

resultsDuring the first 9 months of the pandemic, the values of per capita alcohol, essential and non-essential sales were, respectively, 13.2% higher, 3.6% higher and 13.1% lower than the average values during the same period in the prior 3 years. Interrupted time series models showed significant level change for the value of monthly per capita alcohol sales (+$4.86, 95% CIs: 2.88, 6.83), essential sales (-$59.80, 95% CIs: - 78.47, - 41.03) and non-essential sales (-$308.70, 95% CIs: - $326.60, - 290.79) during the pandemic. Alcohol sales were consistently elevated during the pandemic, and the pre- and post-pandemic slopes were comparable. In contrast, essential and non-essential retail sales declined in the early months of the pandemic before returning to regular spending levels.

conclusionDuring the first 9 months of the pandemic, per capita alcohol sales were moderately elevated in Canada. In contrast, non-essential sales were lower than prior years, driven by large decreases during the initial months of the pandemic. These findings suggest that the pandemic was associated with increased population-level alcohol consumption, which may lead to increased alcohol-related harms. Ongoing research is needed to examine how factors, including pandemic-related stressors and specific alcohol sales-related policies, may have influenced changes in alcohol use and harms.

Indexed as

COVID-19Alcohol DrinkingAlcoholic BeveragesCanadaCommerceHumansPandemicsSARS-CoV-2

Identifiers

PMID34823488
PMCPMC8613522
OpenAlexW3214830512

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.