{"id":22953,"date":"2025-12-02T10:39:46","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T15:39:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ices.on.ca\/?post_type=journal_article&#038;p=22953"},"modified":"2025-12-03T11:01:28","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T16:01:28","slug":"severity-of-alcohol-related-hospitalizations-following-the-onset-of-the-covid-19-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"journal_article","link":"https:\/\/www.ices.on.ca\/fr\/publications\/journal-articles\/severity-of-alcohol-related-hospitalizations-following-the-onset-of-the-covid-19-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Severity of alcohol-related hospitalizations following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic: a population-based cohort study"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Background<\/strong> <em>\u2014 <\/em>Alcohol use and alcohol-attributable hospitalizations increased during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, whether hospitalizations were more severe during the pandemic years is unknown.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Objective<\/strong> <em>\u2014 <\/em>To examine the severity of alcohol-related hospitalizations following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Design<\/strong> <em>\u2014 <\/em>We conducted a retrospective cohort study of alcohol-attributable hospital admissions between March 2016 and February 2022 in Ontario, Canada.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Participants<\/strong> <em>\u2014 <\/em>Using established databases, we identified residents aged 18 to 105 years with an alcohol-related hospital admission. We excluded patients with a missing or invalid health card and non-Ontario residents.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Exposure<\/strong> <em>\u2014 <\/em>The primary exposure was the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020). The study period included two phases: before the pandemic (2016 to 2020) and during the pandemic (2020 to 2022).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Main measures<\/strong> <em>\u2014 <\/em>We used generalized estimating equations with a negative binomial distribution to compare the average length of stay and other secondary outcomes (critical care admissions, in-hospital mortality, 30-day mortality, 1-year mortality, 30-day readmission) during the two study periods.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Key results<\/strong> <em>\u2014 <\/em>We identified 107,030 hospitalizations in the pre-pandemic period and 57,971 in the pandemic period. The mean length of hospital stay was 13.1 days (standard deviation [SD] 43.3) before the pandemic, and 12.1 days (SD 29.7) during the pandemic. After adjustment, length of stay was marginally shorter during the pandemic (relative risk [RR] 0.94; 0.91 to 0.97), driven by shorter mental health admissions. Compared to pre-pandemic, admissions during the pandemic were characterized by an increased risk of 30-day mortality (aRR 1.09; 1.04 to 1.14), 1-year mortality (aRR 1.13; 1.08 to 1.18), 30-day readmission (aRR 1.09; 1.06 to 1.14), and a decreased risk of ICU admission (aRR 0.95; 0.93 to 0.98).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conclusions<\/strong> <em>\u2014 <\/em>Compared to alcohol-related hospitalizations pre-pandemic, hospital length of stay during the pandemic was slightly shorter. Admissions in more recent years were associated with other increased risks of re-admission and mortality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Background \u2014 Alcohol use and alcohol-attributable hospitalizations increased during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, whether hospitalizations were more severe during the pandemic years is unknown. Objective \u2014 To examine the severity of alcohol-related hospitalizations following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Design \u2014 We conducted a retrospective cohort study of alcohol-attributable hospital admissions between March 2016 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","migration-helper-automated":[],"migration-manual":[],"topic":[62,35],"migration-helper-qa-sample-set":[],"class_list":["post-22953","journal_article","type-journal_article","status-publish","hentry","topic-health-services-research","topic-public-health"],"acf":{"citation":"Yaseen W, Zagorski B, Li P, Redelmeier DA, Zipursky JS. <em>J Gen Intern Med<\/em>. 2025; Dec 2 [Epub ahead of print].","source_url":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s11606-025-10059-x","ices_scientist":[1337,1137],"site":[6733],"research_program":[6746],"news_release":"","journal_article":"","atlas":"","research_report":"","infographic":"","video":"","downloads":null,"links":null,"sitecore_item_id":"","sitecore_item_name":"","sitecore_field_values":"","previous_url":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>ICES | Severity of alcohol-related hospitalizations following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic: a population-based cohort study<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Background \u2014 Alcohol use and alcohol-attributable hospitalizations increased during the COVID-19 pandemic; 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