Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on trends in health conditions associated with alcohol among patients with hypertension in Sweden.

Research on how the COVID-19 pandemic, societal restrictions, and healthcare services barriers have impacted patients with hypertension is limited. This study aimed to evaluate trends in alcohol-related disorders, other alcohol-associated conditions, and deaths among patients with hypertension during the pandemic (March 2020-Feb 2022) compared to the pre-pandemic period (March 2018-Feb 2020) in Region Stockholm, Sweden. This exploratory descriptive time series analysis was conducted among adults diagnosed with hypertension between 2015 and 2018. Data were obtained from the Swedish National Patient Register (specialist care) and the Stockholm Region's primary care database. The quarterly period prevalence of diagnoses or cumulative incidence of acute diagnoses and deaths was presented. The study included 168,963 patients with hypertension (57% females). Overall, no profound shifts in alcohol-related disorders or mortality were observed during the pandemic. However, noteworthy trends were: alcohol-related disorder diagnoses in primary care increased among females (3.2/1000 compared to 2.8-3.1/1000 pre-pandemic), while rates of alcohol dependency decreased in specialist care, particularly among males (3.5-4.1/1000 compared to 4.1-5.1/1000 pre-pandemic). Alcohol-related disorders and deaths remained higher in males than in females during both periods. Among other alcohol-associated conditions, cardiovascular disease prevalence increased in both sexes in primary care and in male patients in specialist care, whereas mental illness decreased in both sexes. This study highlights the need for continued prevention of hazardous alcohol use among patients with hypertension and monitoring of cardiovascular risk factors. Further research on hypertensive patients is needed, as the pandemic-related health impacts may not become apparent until many years later.