Alcohol-Related Deaths Soared During the First Year of the Pandemic, CDC Study Says

Experts say isolation, financial stress and therapy disruptions may have contributed to jump in alcohol deaths

By Talal Ansari of The WSJ.

"Alcohol-related deaths in the U.S. rose during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a new federal report. 

The report, published Friday by the National Center for Health Statistics, examined deaths caused by alcohol by sex and age groups for 2020, when the spread of Covid-19 upended everyday life. Studies have shown the level of binge drinking increased during this period. 

The rate of alcohol-related deaths has steadily increased over the past two decades, with increases of up to 7% each year between 2000 and 2018. That figure jumped 26% between 2019 and 2020, from 39,043 to 49,061 deaths. 

Alcohol use increased over the year, which may have affected alcohol-induced mortality rates, according to the study.

“It was a confluence of lots of negativity happening at the same time,” said Margie Skeer, a professor at Tufts University School of Medicine who studies addiction.

Dr. Skeer, who wasn’t part of the NCHS report, said isolation, uncertainty, financial strains and higher chances of job loss may have contributed to people’s stress levels, which led to an increase in mental-health problems and an increase in drinking. 

Liquor stores were considered an essential business at the time in many states, and were kept open when other places weren’t, Dr. Skeer said of the possible reasons for the increase in consumption. To-go alcohol was also allowed, to help keep a stream of income for struggling businesses. And those who were already struggling with addiction before the pandemic saw a severe disruption in their recovery or therapy, she said, which may have contributed to an increase in deaths. 

Several studies conducted in the fall of 2020 found that binge drinking increased during the pandemic. A study of more than 1,500 adults published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in September 2020 found that the frequency of alcohol consumption increased 14% over the previous year for all adults. For women, binge drinking went up 41%.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines binge drinking as consuming five or more drinks on one occasion for men or four or more drinks for women.

“On top of all the stress and uncertainty, you also have boredom. Everyone was just bored,” Dr. Skeer said of the general increase in alcohol use. 

NCHS researchers found that for both men and women, the rates of alcohol-induced deaths in 2020 increased with age and peaked for those aged 55–64. 

For women, alcohol-induced deaths increased across all age groups after 25 between 2019 and 2020. For men, alcohol-induced deaths increased in all age categories for those aged 85 and under. 

Men were more likely to have alcohol-related deaths overall, with rates two to four times higher than those for women in all age groups, the study said. 

“Men are way more likely to binge drink than women,” Dr. Skeer said, adding that men historically have higher rates of alcoholism. 

Alcoholic liver disease and mental and behavioral disorders from alcohol were responsible for most alcohol-related deaths, according to the report from the NCHS, a part of the CDC.

It found the rate of deaths from alcoholic liver disease increased 23% from 2019 to 2020 and 33% for mental and behavioral disorders due to alcohol use.

The NCHS study considered alcoholic liver disease to include alcoholic fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis, alcoholic fibrosis and sclerosis of the liver, among other conditions. Mental and behavioral disorders due to alcohol use include acute intoxication, harmful use, dependence syndrome, withdrawal and psychotic disorders.

Other common causes of death related to alcohol were accidental poisoning by alcohol, alcoholic cardiomyopathy and alcohol-induced pancreatitis."