Factors Associated With Increased Alcohol Consumption During Physical and Social Distancing Measures During the COVID-19 Pandemic in a University in Brazil

OBJECTIVE: To report alcohol consumption during the first month of social home-isolation and physical distancing measures during the COVID-19 pandemic in an public University in Mid-West Brazil. METHODS: We designed an online observational study. Initial data of 2166 participants was obtained between April and May, 2020, less than a month after University’s measures of social distancing with remote work and classes. We used Poisson regression model with robust variance to identify the significant factors associated with self-reported increase in alcohol consumption during social and physical distancing measures. RESULTS: Increased alcohol consumption during social and physical distancing was reported by 22.9% of 1371 alcohol drinkers. Factors associated with reporting increased alcoholic consumption during University’s physical and social distancing measures were: not professing any religion (1.52, 95% CI 1.25-1.83), having signs/symptom suggesting SARS-COV-2 infection (1.56, 95% CI 1.26-1.93), missing social interaction with peers carried out without any mediating technology (1.57, 95% CI 1.13-2.20), experiencing financial distress/hardship (1.25, 95% CI 1.02-1.54), perceiving duration of social isolation as long (1.62, 95% CI 1.10-2.41), reporting worsening of emotional/mental wellbeing (1.76, 95% CI 1.34-2.33), and previous psychological disorders (1.25, 95% CI 1.03-1.52). CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights several individual, psychological, and social determinants of increase in consumption of alcoholic beverages during physical and social distancing measures due to the pandemic and the results may reflect the presence of emotional changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It urges that sanitary authorities adopt measures to avoid excessive alcohol consumption during social distancing measures.