Changes in health service use due to alcohol during the COVID-19 pandemic among individuals with and individuals without pre-existing alcohol-related medical diagnoses.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To compare changes in outpatient and acute care visits due to alcohol during the COVID-19 pandemic between individuals with and those without a history of alcohol-related health service use (AHSU).

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of health administrative data in Ontario, Canada. The Ontario population was stratified into those with and those without 1+ health service encounter(s) due to alcohol in the past 2 years. We compared age- and sex-standardized rates of alcohol-related outpatient visits, emergency department (ED) visits, and hospitalizations during the first 15 months of the pandemic (March 2020-May 2021) to those during the same 15-month period prior to the pandemic (March 2018-May 2019).

Results

Of 13,450,750 eligible Ontarians on M

SUBMITTER: Myran D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9888341 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature