Was receipt of any specialty alcohol treatment during the pandemic effective at reducing drinking for patients with or at risk of AUD?

Was receipt of any specialty alcohol treatment during the pandemic effective at reducing drinking for patients with or at risk of AUD?

Publication date: Oct 06, 2024

The COVID-19 pandemic changed the way healthcare providers delivered most health services, including treatment for alcohol use disorder (AUD). Specialty alcohol treatment remained available through the pandemic, and within some systems treatment use increased likely due to telehealth availability. However, the field knows little about the relationship between the pandemic’s expanded access to specialty alcohol treatment and alcohol use outcomes. The sample included 14,712 patients from Kaiser Permanente Northern California who screened positive for unhealthy alcohol use in primary care and had an AUD diagnosis or risked developing an AUD by reporting 5 or more heavy drinking days in a 3-month period between 1/1/2019 and 2/29/2020 (pre-pandemic). The study examined the receipt of any specialty alcohol treatment (including at least one outpatient, inpatient, or telehealth specialty treatment encounter, or pharmacotherapy prescription) from 3/1/2020 (pandemic start) to either the first completed follow-up alcohol screening or 6/20/2022 (study period end). The outcomes of alcohol use included changes in heavy drinking days, drinks per week, drinking days per week, and drinks per drinking day between the pre- and post-pandemic periods. On average patients significantly decreased alcohol use across all four alcohol use measures examined, regardless of whether they received treatment. However, those who received any treatment compared to those who did not have greater reductions in alcohol use, with an additional decrease of -3. 55 heavy drinking days (95 % CI = -5. 93, -1. 17), -3. 80 drinks per week (95 % CI = -5. 18, -2. 42), -0. 72 drinks per drinking day (95 % CI = -1. 14, -0. 30), and - 1. 01 drinking days per week (95 % CI = -1. 30, -0. 72). Treatment effects were greatest among patients who exceeded both daily and weekly limits pre-pandemic, with an additional decrease of -10. 75 heavy drinking days (95 % CI = -15. 28, -6. 21), -12. 83 drinks per week (95 % CI = -16. 31, -9. 35), -1. 67 drinks per drinking day (95 % CI = -2. 19, -1. 14), and -2. 02 drinking days per week (95 % CI = -2. 41, -1. 63). On average, patients decreased alcohol use during the onset of the pandemic, however, those who had any specialty alcohol treatment had significantly greater decreases, suggesting that the hybrid in-person and telehealth treatment approach was effective during the pandemic.

Concepts Keywords
California Alcohol use
Outpatient AUD
Pharmacotherapy Drinking
Unhealthy Pandemic
Weekly Specialty alcohol treatment

Semantics

Type Source Name
drug DRUGBANK Ethanol
disease MESH COVID-19 pandemic
disease MESH alcohol use disorder

Original Article

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