Nitta Chie, Matsushita Sachio
National Hospital Organization, Kurihama Medical and Addiction Center, Yokosuka, Japan.
Institute of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba-shi, Japan.
Alcohol Clin Exp Res (Hoboken). 2023 Oct;47(10):1904-1916. doi: 10.1111/acer.15166. Epub 2023 Aug 29.
Concerns regarding symptom severity and the risk of relapse among people seeking recovery from alcohol use disorder (AUD) have been raised since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Owing to preventive measures implemented during the pandemic (social distancing or lockdown), self-help group (SHG) meetings were restricted. However, the impact of deprivation of onsite recovery meetings on drinking behavior and risk among SHG members with AUD remains unclear. We examined the proportion of SHG members who reported drinking and their reasons for drinking during the early stages of the pandemic and the effect of nonattendance at onsite recovery meetings on drinking behavior during the early pandemic period, stratified by gender.
A national cross-sectional survey of Japanese SHG members was conducted to measure self-reported alcohol consumption, sociodemographic characteristics, AUD diagnosis, treatment status, SHG meeting attendance, membership duration, psychological distress, and health-related variables. Of 6478 SHG members, 2955 (male: n = 2678; female: n = 277; response rate: 46.7%) responded, and the responses were analyzed using a gender-stratified multivariate logistic regression model.
Most participants reported having abstained from alcohol use, while 6% of the respondents reported having consumed alcohol during the early stages of the pandemic. The proportion of "drinkers" among women (10.5%) was significantly higher than that among men (5.9%; p = 0.012). Through multivariate model analysis, the factors associated with drinking during the pandemic were identified as psychological distress (among men and women) and not attending onsite recovery meetings (among men). Conversely, a longer duration of SHG membership was associated with less drinking during the pandemic for both genders.
Most SHG members appear to have remained abstinent during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, psychological distress in both genders and the inability to attend recovery meetings among men may have influenced drinking behavior.
自新冠疫情爆发以来，人们对酒精使用障碍（AUD）康复者的症状严重程度和复发风险表示担忧。由于疫情期间实施的预防措施（社交 distancing 或封锁），自助小组（SHG）会议受到限制。然而，缺乏现场康复会议对患有 AUD 的 SHG 成员饮酒行为和风险的影响仍不清楚。我们调查了在疫情早期报告饮酒的 SHG 成员比例及其饮酒原因，以及疫情早期未参加现场康复会议对饮酒行为的影响，并按性别进行了分层。
对日本 SHG 成员进行了一项全国性横断面调查，以测量自我报告的酒精消费、社会人口学特征、AUD 诊断、治疗状况、SHG 会议出席情况、会员时长、心理困扰和与健康相关的变量。在 6478 名 SHG 成员中，2955 人（男性：n = 2678；女性：n = 277；回复率：46.7%）做出了回应，并使用性别分层的多变量逻辑回归模型对回复进行了分析。
大多数参与者报告已戒酒，而 6%的受访者报告在疫情早期饮酒。女性中“饮酒者”的比例（10.5%）显著高于男性（5.9%；p = 0.012）。通过多变量模型分析，与疫情期间饮酒相关的因素被确定为心理困扰（男性和女性）以及未参加现场康复会议（男性）。相反，SHG 会员时长较长与疫情期间男女饮酒量减少有关。
在新冠疫情早期，大多数 SHG 成员似乎保持了戒酒状态。然而，男女的心理困扰以及男性无法参加康复会议可能影响了饮酒行为。
