Treatment Disruption and Childcare Responsibility as Risk Factors for Drug and Alcohol Use in Persons in Treatment for Substance Use Disorders During the COVID-19 Crisis

The novel 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis has caused considerable upheaval in the U.S. healthcare system. The current study examined patient-reported experiences in substance use disorder (SUD) treatment during the early stages of the COVID-19 crisis. METHODS: Participants in SUD treatment were recruited via online crowdsourcing from April 14, 2020 to May 26, 2020, during the early stages of the COVID-19 crisis. Participants reported disruptions in SUD treatment, stress and anxiety caused by these disruptions on a 0-100 point visual analogue scale (VAS), stress associated with childcare responsibilities on a 0–100 VAS, current stress on the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), anxiety symptoms on the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), sleep disturbances on the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), and whether they used drugs or alcohol during the COVID-19 crisis. RESULTS: Participants (N = 240) endorsed that at least 1 SUD treatment was switched to telemedicine (63.7%), had some appointments cancelled (37.5%), or was discontinued due to COVID-19 (29.6%). Participants who did versus did not endorse drug/alcohol use reported difficulty obtaining medications to treat their SUD (OR = 2.47, 95% CI, 1.17–5.22, χ(2) = 5.98, P = .016), greater scores on VAS treatment-related stress (F(1,197) = 5.70, P = .018) and anxiety (F(1,197) = 4.07, P = .045), greater VAS stress related to childcare (F(1,107) = 10.24, P = .002), and greater scores on the PSS (F(1,235) = 19.27, P < .001), BAI (F(1,235) = 28.59, P < .001), and ISI (F(1,235) = 14.41, P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Providers and public health officials should work to improve continuity and quality of care during the COVID-19 crisis, with special attention on addressing childcare difficulties and providing remote methods to improve stress, anxiety, and sleep for persons in SUD treatment.