Urtė Paškevičiūtė1
1Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Kaunas, Lithuania
Abstract
The global Covid-19 pandemic required a number of severe measures to restrict the movement and freedom of people. Most of them, especially maintaining social distance, travel restrictions and isolation, have a negative impact on people’s mental health. Also, these restrictions encourage people to consume more alcohol and tobacco products.
Besides that, in the early beginning of the pandemic, false information was circulated in the global media that alcohol consumption can have a positive effect on human immunity and help to prevent the Corona virus. This information may have contributed to the increased alcohol consumption.
When pandemic is not over yet, this problem still needs more attention and more researches to be done.
The aim of the study: to analyze the associations between alcohol consumption and its consequences related to Covid-19 disease described in the scientific literature.
Methodology: the international database Pubmed was used to search the literature. Articles were analyzed published during the pandemic year period, from 2020 March to 2021 March. Keywords and their combinations were used in the search – Covid-19, alcohol, alcohol consumption, alcohol abuse, Covid-19 and alcohol, Corona and alcohol.
Results and Conclusions. An analysis of 18 scientific publications on alcohol consumption during the Covid Pandemic revealed that alcohol consumption increased during the Global Covid-19 Pandemic, despite restrictions on bar and restaurants. The pandemic has particularly affected people who have a predisposition to alcohol abuse in the past. Some people consume less alcohol during a pandemic, but this was due to increased incapacity for work and reduced income. People who consume large amounts of alcohol are more likely to have Covid-19 infection and have worse outcomes.
Keywords: Covid-19, alcohol, alcohol consumption, alcohol abuse, Covid-19 and alcohol, Corona and alcohol.