Public Health Agency of Canada, 785 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5H4, Canada.
Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Can J Public Health. 2023 Feb;114(1):33-43. doi: 10.17269/s41997-022-00689-7. Epub 2022 Oct 6.
Alcohol use is a known risk factor for suicidality, yet this relationship has not been explored during the pandemic in Canada. As a growing body of evidence demonstrates the negative impact of COVID-19 on alcohol consumption and associated harms in Canada, there is a need to examine this more closely.
Using the Survey on COVID-19 and Mental Health 2020, we compared the prevalence of suicide ideation among: (1) individuals who reported an increase in alcohol consumption vs those who reported a decrease/no change, and (2) individuals who reported past month heavy episodic drinking vs those who did not. We compared overall unadjusted odds ratios and across a number of sociodemographic and mental health variables. All estimates were weighted to ensure they were nationally representative.
The prevalence and likelihood of suicide ideation were significantly higher among people who reported increased alcohol consumption during the pandemic (4.9% vs 2.0%; OR = 2.6, 95% CI: 1.8, 3.7) and people who reported past month heavy episodic drinking (3.4% vs 2.1%; OR = 1.7, 95% CI: 1.2, 2.3). Males and middle-aged and older-aged individuals had the highest odds ratios for increased alcohol consumption and past month heavy episodic drinking with suicide ideation.
In the Canadian general population during the COVID-19 pandemic, there were significant associations between suicide ideation and increased alcohol use as well as past month heavy episodic drinking across specific sociodemographic subgroups. Future research could explore these associations while adjusting for social determinants of health such as income security, employment, education, social support, stress, and mental health.
饮酒是自杀倾向的已知危险因素，但在加拿大的大流行期间，尚未对此关系进行探讨。随着越来越多的证据表明 COVID-19 对加拿大的饮酒量和相关危害产生负面影响，因此需要更密切地研究这一问题。
我们使用 2020 年 COVID-19 和心理健康调查，比较了以下人群中自杀意念的患病率：（1）报告饮酒量增加的个体与报告饮酒量减少/不变的个体，以及（2）报告过去一个月重度间歇性饮酒的个体与未报告的个体。我们比较了总体未调整的优势比以及一系列社会人口统计学和心理健康变量。所有估计均进行了加权，以确保其具有全国代表性。
在大流行期间报告饮酒量增加的人群（4.9％比 2.0％；OR = 2.6，95％CI：1.8，3.7）和报告过去一个月重度间歇性饮酒的人群（3.4％比 2.1％；OR = 1.7，95％CI：1.2，2.3）中，自杀意念的患病率和可能性明显更高。男性和中年及老年个体在饮酒量增加和过去一个月重度间歇性饮酒与自杀意念方面的优势比最高。
在 COVID-19 大流行期间，加拿大普通人群中，自杀意念与饮酒量增加以及过去一个月重度间歇性饮酒之间存在显著关联，而且在特定社会人口统计学亚组中存在这种关联。未来的研究可以在调整收入保障、就业、教育、社会支持、压力和心理健康等健康的社会决定因素的情况下，探索这些关联。
