Alcohol Use Disorder Admissions During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings From a Tertiary Community Hospital

Objectives: The first case of Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) in the United States was confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in January 2020. The presence of COVID-19 and the subsequent spread of this disease led to stress, anxiety, grief, and worry. We aimed to study the rate of hospital admission for alcohol use disorder (AUD) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in a tertiary community hospital in Michigan. Methods: Two subsets of hospital data were collected for comparison between hospitalized patients before and during the pandemic in a tertiary community hospital. Logistic regression was used to identify the odds ratio of AUD admission rates among all patients in 2020 compared with 2019 while controlling for covariates. Results: Our data showed a statistically significant increase in AUD patients in 2020 compared to 2019 (3.26% versus 2.50%, adjusted OR=1.44 with P=0.002). In addition, females had significantly lower chances of admission for AUD compared with males (OR=0.22 with P<0.001) and African Americans had significantly lower chances of admission for AUD compared to Whites (OR=0.44 with P <0.001). Divorced patients had a higher probability of admission for AUD compared to married patients (OR=2.62 with P<0.001). Conclusion: Our study found a significantly higher rate of AUD admissions in 2020 during the COVID-19 Pandemic compared to 2019. Gender, race, age, and marital status are significant risk factors related to AUD admissions.