Alcohol-related hepatitis admissions increased 50% in the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic in the USA - PubMed (original) (raw)

. 2022 Apr;42(4):762-764.

doi: 10.1111/liv.15172. Epub 2022 Feb 24.

Affiliations

Humberto C Gonzalez et al. Liver Int. 2022 Apr.

Abstract

Early reports suggest that alcohol misuse increased in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using retrospective data from Henry Ford Health System in Detroit MI-an area that experienced an early and severe COVID-19 outbreak-we investigated the impact of the pandemic on alcohol-related liver disease (ARLD) in the summer of 2020 compared with the same period in 2016-2019. Both the number of ARLD admissions and the proportion of total admissions represented by ARLD patients increased significantly in 2020 compared with previous years. The number of ARLD admissions as a proportion of all hospitalizations was 50% higher in 2020 than in 2016-2019 (0.31% vs 0.21%; P = .0013); by September 2020, the number of admissions was 66% higher than previous years. Despite racial and geographical disparities in direct and indirect COVID-related stressors across the Detroit metropolitan area, the demographic profile of ARLD patients did not change compared with previous years.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; alcohol-related liver disease; alcoholic hepatitis; cirrhosis; hospitalization.

© 2022 John Wiley & Sons A/S . Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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