Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36217061›Full record

ArticleJournal of patient-reported outcomes2022

Alcohol consumption and health-related quality of life in the US during the COVID-19 pandemic: a US national survey.

Eve Wittenberg, Collin Labutte, Benjamin Thornburg, Abraham Gebreselassie, Carolina Barbosa, Jeremy W Bray

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of patient-reported outcomes, 2022. 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
–field-weighted citation impact
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.

  1. "My Health Is More Important than Drinking": A Qualitative Analysis of Alcohol Use During COVID-19.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
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

6 authors.

Eve WittenbergCenter for Health Decision Science, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, 718 Huntington Avenue, 02115, Boston, MA, USA. ewittenb@hsph.harvard.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7318-1154
Collin LabutteBryan School of Business and Economics, University of North Carolina, 462-D Bryan Building, PO Box 26710, 27402-6170, Greensboro, NC, USA.
Benjamin ThornburgJohn Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Hampton House, 4th floor, 624 N Broadway, 21205, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Abraham GebreselassieBryan School of Business and Economics, University of North Carolina, 462-D Bryan Building, PO Box 26710, 27402-6170, Greensboro, NC, USA.
Carolina BarbosaRTI International, 230 West Monroe Street, Suite 2100, 60606, Chicago, IL, USA.
Jeremy W BrayBryan School of Business and Economics, University of North Carolina, 462-D Bryan Building, PO Box 26710, 27402-6170, Greensboro, NC, USA.

Funding

Alcohol consumption and related comorbid conditions: health state utilities for economic evaluation in the context of the COVID-19 pandemicR15AA027655 · NIAAA · UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA GREENSBORO · PI BRAY, JEREMY W · 2019 to 2021
$670k
NIAAA NIH HHS R15 AA027655NIAAA NIH HHS #R15AA027655-01S1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAlcohol consumption has changed during the COVID-19 pandemic yet the impacts on alcohol-related outcomes, and specifically health-related quality of life, are not completely known. Our objective was to assess the association between alcohol consumption and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

methodWe conducted an on-line/telephone survey of three cross-sectional samples of US adults during a nine-month stretch of the pandemic, from August 2020 through April 2021, collecting data on drinking-current quantity/frequency and change since prior to pandemic, HRQOL (using the SF-6D), and perceived impact of the pandemic on respondents' lives-overall impact and disruptions across various dimensions (job loss, school closures, social isolation, loss of income). We pooled the data from the three administrations and applied survey weights to reflect the US population. We described drinking behavior and pandemic impact, and regressed HRQOL on alcohol consumption risk level (per World Health Organization categories), change in drinking since pre-pandemic, and pandemic impact using weighted least squares, controlling for respondents' demographic characteristics. We tested the significance of categorical variables using Wald tests at a p-value of 0.05.

resultsAmong 3,125 respondents, weighted to reflect the US population, 68% reported drinking during the pandemic and 40% reported a change in drinking from pre-pandemic level (either increased or decreased). Mean HRQOL among our sample was 0.721 (SD 0.003). Any change in drinking from pre-pandemic level was independently associated with significantly lower HRQOL compared to never drinking (pre or during pandemic), from - 0.0251 points for decreased/stopped drinking to -0.0406 points for increased drinking (combined levels' Wald test F = 10.62, p < 0.0000). COVID-19 pandemic related impacts/disruptions were associated with HRQOL decrements ranging from - 0.0834 to -0.1340 (Wald test F = 64.34, p < 0.0000).

conclusionThe US population HRQOL was substantially lower during the pandemic than reported a decade earlier (mean = 0.79 in 2012-13). While pandemic-related impacts and disruptions may explain a large part of this decrement, changes in drinking-and the associated implications of such changes-might also play a role. Both individuals who reduced their drinking during the pandemic and those who increased consumption may be at risk of poor HRQOL.

Indexed as

AlcoholCOVID-19HRQOLSF-6DUtilities

Identifiers

PMID36217061
PMCPMC9550307

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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.