Alcohol Consumption during the COVID-19 Lockdown Period: Predictors of At-Risk Drinking at Different AUDIT-C Cut-Off Thresholds
Abstract
:1. Introduction
“General population survey data indicate there has been a rise in the proportions of both non-drinkers and higher risk drinkers, and that similar proportions of people are drinking more than before and less than before”.[4]
2. Methods
2.1. Survey Data
2.2. Non-Sociodemographic Study Measures
2.2.1. AUDIT-C
2.2.2. Home Drinking Assessment Scale (HDAS)
2.2.3. Additional Home Drinking Items
2.2.4. Changes in Alcohol Consumption
2.2.5. Purchasing Behaviour
2.2.6. WEMWBS
2.3. Data Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Reasons for Drinking at Home
3.2. AUDIT Data and Gender Differences
3.3. Gender Differences in Non-AUDIT-C Variables
3.4. Age Differences and Testing for Multicollinearity
3.5. Comparison of Purchasing Behaviours during Lockdown
3.6. Univariate Testing at Different AUDIT-C Cut-Offs
3.7. Men 5/Women 5 (Public Health England Recommended Cut-Off)
3.8. Men 8/Women 7: Student and Young People Cut-Off
3.9. Men 8/Women 8: Cut-Off for Adults Seeking Online Help
3.10. Regression Models
3.11. Results of Heirarchical Regressions
4. Discussion
4.1. Demographic and Contextual Determinants of At-Risk Drinking
4.2. Summary of AUDIT-C Cut Off Findings
4.3. Strengths and Limitations
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Numbers | % | |
---|---|---|
Gender | ||
Males | 322 | 28.5 |
Females | 838 | 71.5. |
No Response | 6 | <1% |
Ethnicity | ||
White | 1075 | 95.3 |
Others | 53 | 4.7 |
Highest Educational Level | ||
No Exams | 14 | 1.2 |
Other | 31 | 2.7 |
GCSE Only | 113 | 10.0 |
A Level Equivalent | 141 | 12.5 |
Further Education or Equivalent | 181 | 16.0 |
Undergraduate Degree | 381 | 33.8 |
Masters Degree | 235 | 20.8 |
Doctorate | 32 | 2.8 |
Pre-Tax Monthly Income. (n = 1102) | ||
Less than £2000 | 561 | 50.9 |
£2000 or more | 541 | 49.1 |
Drinking Patterns during Lockdown (n = 1120) | ||
Less than Before | 334 | 29.8 |
About the Same | 460 | 41.1 |
More than Before | 326 | 29.1 |
Mean | SD | |
Age | 45.05 | 12.3 |
Typical Weekly Spend on Alcohol (£s) (n = 1105) | ||
Before Lockdown | 23.4 | 168.7 |
During Lockdown | 24.6 | 255.6 |
HDAS Scores | ||
Practical Reasons | 18.81 | 3.73 |
Emotional Reasons | 9.26 | 2.97 |
Other Reasons for Drinking at Home | ||
With Food (n = 1124) | 3.95 | 2.18 |
With Entertainments (n = 1119) | 7.97 | 4.44 |
Purchasing Behaviour Prior to Lockdown | ||
For Parties (n = 1115) | 2.43 | 1.16 |
Normal Household Shopping (n = 1118) | 2.85 | 1.38 |
From an Off Licence (n = 1103) | 3.89 | 1.13 |
Online (n = 1107) | 3.93 | 1.20 |
Purchasing Behaviour during the lockdown | ||
For Parties (n = 1117) | 3.52 | 1.41 |
Normal Household Shopping (n = 1123) | 2.38 | 1.39 |
Online (n = 1119) | 3.68 | 1.48 |
Drinking Contexts During the Lockdown | ||
Other Members of the Household (n = 1117) | 1.73 | 1.27 |
Drinking Alone (n = 1120) | 2.85 | 1.71 |
WEMWBS (n = 1128) | 45.4 | 9.41 |
AUDIT-C (n = 1090) | 6.93 | 2.40 |
Audit-C Cut-Offs | AUDIT-C Positive | AUDIT-C Negative | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Number | % | Number | % | |
Public Health England recommended cut-off: Males and Females both ≥5 [16] (n = 1084) | 909 | 83.8 | 175 | 16.2 |
Males (n = 308) | 265 | 86.0 | 43 | 14.0 |
Females (n = 776) | 644 | 82.9 | 132 | 17.1 |
Students and young people Females ≥7 Males ≥8 [18] (n = 1075) | 515 | 47.9 | 560 | 52.1 |
Males (n = 307) | 149 | 48.5 | 158 | 51.5 |
Females (n = 768) | 366 | 47.6 | 402 | 52.3 |
Adults seeking on-line help ≥8 Both genders [19] (n = 1084) | 379 | 34.9 | 705 | 65.1 |
Males *** (n = 308) | 151 | 49.0 | 157 | 51.0 |
Females (n = 776) | 228 | 29.3 | 548 | 70.7 |
Age | Alcohol Spend | WEWMBS | Audit-C | HDAS-E | HDAS-p | Meals | Entert | Onl | Super | Party | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Age | 1 | 0.002 | 0.181 | 0.020 | −0.068 | 0.113 | −0.035 | −0.050 | −0.034 | 0.015 | 0.174 |
Sig | 0.994 | 0.001 | 0.518 | 0.022 | <0.001 | 0.246 | 0.093 | 0.259 | 0.607 | <0.001 | |
Alcohol spend | 1 | 0.060 | 0.019 | 0.041 | 0.015 | −0.071 | −0.066 | −0.001 | −0.045 | −0.016 | |
Sig | 0.046 | 0.525 | 0.172 | 0.630 | 0.019 | 0.028 | 0.986 | 0.140 | 0.601 | ||
WEMBWS | 1 | −0.050 | 0.129 | 0.130 | −0.054 | 0.005 | 0.049 | 0.004 | −0.042 | ||
Sig | 0.099 | <0.001 | <0.001 | 0.072 | 0.857 | 0.105 | 0.887 | 0.164 | |||
Audit-C | 1 | −0.319 | −0.098 | −0.013 | −0.013 | −280 | −0.369 | −0.189 | |||
Sig | <0.001 | 0.001 | 0.660 | 0.659 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | ||||
HDAS-E | 1 | 0.559 | −0.109 | −0.041 | 0.278 | 0.329 | 0.094 | ||||
Sig | <0.001 | <0.001 | 0.170 | <0.001 | <0.001 | 0.002 | |||||
HDAS-p | 1 | −0.137 | −0.094 | 0.172 | 0.198 | 0.129 | |||||
Sig | <0.001 | 0.002 | <0.001 | <0.001 | <0.001 | ||||||
Meals | 1 | 0.565 | −0.014 | −0.185 | −0.202 | ||||||
Sig | <0.001 | 0.645 | <0.001 | <0.001 | |||||||
Entert $ | 1 | −0.73 | −220 | −179 | |||||||
Sig | 0.014 | <0.001 | <0.001 | ||||||||
Onl * | 1 | 0.095 | 0.106 | ||||||||
Sig | 0.002 | <0.001 | |||||||||
Super ** | 1 | 0.330 | |||||||||
Sig | <0.001 | ||||||||||
Party *** | 1 |
Beta | Df | OR | 95% Cis | p | |
Block One: Purchasing Patterns During Lockdown: Regression 1 | |||||
Purchasing alcohol online | (−) 0.415 | 1 | 0.660 | 0.561–0.777 | <0.001 |
Purchasing alcohol in a supermarket | (−) 0.568 | 1 | 0.567 | 0.490–0.655 | <0.001 |
Purchasing alcohol for parties | 0.027 | 1 | 1.027 | 0.885–1.191 | 0.725 |
Regression 2 | |||||
Purchasing alcohol online | (−) 0.315 | 1 | 0.730 | 0.661–0.806 | <0.001 |
Purchasing alcohol in a supermarket | (−) 0.474 | 1 | 0.622 | 0.549–0.706 | <0.001 |
Purchasing alcohol for parties | (−) 0.140 | 1 | 0.869 | 0.784–0.964 | 0.008 |
Block Two: Context of Drinking: Regression 1 | |||||
Drinking with members of the household | (−) 0.070 | 1 | 0.932 | 0.806–1.079 | 0.347 |
Drinking alone | (−) 0.089 | 1 | 0.915 | 0.809–1.034 | 0.154 |
Regression 2 | |||||
Drinking with members of the household | (−) 0.185 | 1 | 0.831 | 0.739–0.934 | 0.002 |
Drinking alone | (−) 0.123 | 1 | 0.885 | 0.805–0.973 | 0.011 |
Block 3: Motivations for Drinking at Home: Regression 1 | |||||
HDAS Emotional Reasons | (−)0.140 | 1 | 0.890 | 0.801–0.944 | <0.001 |
HDAS Practical Reasons | 0.045 | 1 | 1.046 | 0.981–1.115 | 0.172 |
With Entertainment | 0.049 | 1 | 1.050 | 1.004–1.099 | 0.033 |
Regression 2 | |||||
HDAS Emotional Reasons | (−) 0.170 | 1 | 0.844 | 0.794–0.897 | <0.001 |
HDAS Practical Reasons | 0.076 | 1 | 1.079 | 1.031–1.129 | 0.001 |
With Entertainment | (−) 0.005 | 1 | 0.995 | 0.958–1.033 | 0.792 |
Block 4: Sociodemographic Variables: Regression 1 | |||||
Gender | (−) 0.004 | 1 | 0.996 | 0.644–1.542 | 0.987 |
Income | 0.073 | 1 | 1.076 | 0.921–1.256 | 0.356 |
Regression 2 | |||||
Gender | 0.290 | 1 | 1.337 | 0.981–1.820 | 0.066 |
Income | 0.106 | 1 | 1.111 | 0.933–1.244 | 0.067 |
Beta | Df | OR | 95% Cis | p | |
Block One: Gender: | |||||
Gender | (−) 0.688 | 1 | 0.502 | 0.369–0.685 | <0.001 |
Block Two: Purchasing Patterns During Lockdown: | |||||
Purchasing alcohol online | (−) 0.280 | 1 | 0.756 | 0.685–0.834 | <0.001 |
Purchasing alcohol in a supermarket | (−) 0.450 | 1 | 0.638 | 0.555–0.733 | <0.001 |
Purchasing alcohol for parties | (−) 0.216 | 1 | 0.805 | 0.725–0.895 | <0.001 |
Block Three: Context of Drinking: | |||||
Drinking with members of the household | (−) 0.128 | 1 | 0.880 | 0.788–0.995 | 0.041 |
Drinking alone | (−) 0.114 | 1 | 0.893 | 0.809–0.985 | 0.023 |
Block Four: Motivations for Drinking at Home: | |||||
HDAS Emotional Reasons | (−) 0.151 | 1 | 0.860 | 0.807–0.916 | <0.001 |
HDAS Practical Reasons | 0.049 | 1 | 1.050 | 1.003–1.100 | 0.038 |
With Entertainment | (−) 0.025 | 1 | 0.976 | 0.938–1.015 | 0.277 |
Block Five: Income | |||||
Income | 0.075 | 1 | 1.078 | 0.959–1.211 | 0.207 |
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Foster, J.H.; Martin, C.R.; Davis, J.P. Alcohol Consumption during the COVID-19 Lockdown Period: Predictors of At-Risk Drinking at Different AUDIT-C Cut-Off Thresholds. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 13042. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph182413042
Foster JH, Martin CR, Davis JP. Alcohol Consumption during the COVID-19 Lockdown Period: Predictors of At-Risk Drinking at Different AUDIT-C Cut-Off Thresholds. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021; 18(24):13042. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph182413042
Chicago/Turabian StyleFoster, John H., Colin R. Martin, and Josh P. Davis. 2021. "Alcohol Consumption during the COVID-19 Lockdown Period: Predictors of At-Risk Drinking at Different AUDIT-C Cut-Off Thresholds" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18, no. 24: 13042. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph182413042