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INTRODUCTION: The year 2020 was marked by the COVID-19 pandemic. Policy responses to COVID-19 affected social and economic life and the availability of alcohol. Previous research has shown an overall small decrease in alcohol use in Denmark in the first months of the pandemic. The present paper focused on identifying which subgroups of individuals had decreased or increased their consumption. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data were collected between May and July 2020 (n = 2,566 respondents, convenience sample). Weights were applied to reflect the actual Danish general population. Variables included the pre-pandemic alcohol consumption, change in alcohol consumption in the past month, socio-demographics, and reported economic consequences. Responses to a single item assessing changes in alcohol consumption in the past month were classified as no change, increase, or decrease in consumption. Regression models investigated how changes in consumption were linked to pre-pandemic drinking levels, socio-demographics (gender, age groups, education), and reported economic consequences. RESULTS: While 39% of participants reported decreased consumption levels and 34% had stable levels, 27% increased consumption. Characteristics associated with changes in consumption were associated with both increases and decreases in consumption: younger people, those with higher consumption levels before the pandemic, and those with lower education more often both reported increases as well as decreases in consumption. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS: We confirmed that more people decreased rather than increased their alcohol consumption in the first few months of the pandemic in Denmark. Characteristics associated with changes in consumption such as younger age, higher consumption levels, and lower education demonstrated a polarization of drinking since these were associated with both increases and decreases in consumption. Public health authorities should monitor alcohol use and other health behaviours for increased risks during the pandemic.

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Alcohol use disorder is a serious health problem in college students. Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) is a 10-item screening tool to assess alcohol consumption, drinking behaviors, and alcohol-related problems. AUDIT-C is a short version of AUDIT, consisting of consumption items 1-3. However, the optimal cutoff values of AUDIT and AUDIT-C for detecting excessive drinking are not available for Japanese college students. The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity of cutoff points of AUDIT and AUDIT-C for detecting moderate drinking, heavy drinking and binge drinking among Japanese college students. The cross-sectional study was based on an anonymous, self-administered questionnaire. In January 2017, we sampled college students and graduate students aged 20 years or older during annual health examinations at Mie University in Japan. Two thousand students underwent health examinations, and the eligible subjects were 1,600, including 152 (9.5%) moderate drinkers, 58 (3.6%) heavy drinkers and 666 (41.6%) binge drinkers. ROC (receiver operating characteristic) curve analysis showed that the optimal cutoff values for moderate drinking, heavy drinking and binge drinking were 5, 8 and 5 for men and 4, 7 and 4 for women in AUDIT; and 4, 7 and 4 for men and 4, 7 and 4 for women in AUDIT-C, respectively. Moderate drinking is considered unsafe drinking. Therefore, the optimal cutoff values for moderate drinking (5 for men and 4 for women in AUDIT and 4 for both sexes in AUDIT-C) are important parameters for prevention of alcohol use disorder in Japanese college students.

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BACKGROUND: Alcohol contributes to numerous annual deaths and various societal problems not just in adult, but also in adolescent, populations. Therefore, it is vital to find methods for reliably detecting alcohol use for early preventative measures. Research has shown phosphatidylethanol (PEth) to be superior to self-report instruments and indirect biomarkers for alcohol consumption in adult populations. However, the transferability onto an adolescent population has not yet been investigated. METHODS: N = 106 adolescents and young adults aged between 13 and 21 years were included. PEth analysis using high-pressure liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was performed on dried blood spot samples. Self-report questionnaires for alcohol consumption (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption, AUDIT-C, and Timeline Followback, TLFB) and drug and alcohol consumption (Detection of Alcohol and Drug Problems in Adolescents, DEP-ADO) were completed by each participant. RESULTS: AUDIT-C scores showed large correlations with PEth 16:0/18:1 (rs  = 0.732) and PEth 16:0/18:2 (rs  = 0.661) concentrations. AUDIT-C with a cutoff value ≥3 was largely correlated with PEth 16:0/18:1 (η = 0.411) and showed a medium-sized correlation with PEth 16:0/18:2 (η = 0.397) concentrations. Using an AUDIT-C cutoff value ≥5 showed large correlations with both PEth 16:0/18:1 (η = 0.510) and PEth 16:0/18:2 (η = 0.497) concentrations, respectively. ROC curves indicated higher PEth concentrations are a good model for detecting positive AUDIT-C cutoff values (AUROC range: 0.800 to 0.849). PEth concentrations showed medium to large correlations with DEP-ADO and TLFB subscales (range rs  = 0.469 to 0.746). CONCLUSION: The results suggest that PEth is a reliable and objective marker for quantifying alcohol consumption in adolescents and young adults. This could be of importance for early preventative measures against hazardous alcohol consumption, which is increasingly common at younger ages.

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BACKGROUND: Hazardous drinking among students in higher education is a growing concern. The alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT) is the gold standard screening instrument for hazardous drinking in the adult population, for which an abbreviated version has been developed: the -AUDIT-Consumption (AUDIT-C). Currently, there's no gold standard for identifying hazardous drinking among students in higher education and little evidence regarding the concurrent validity of the AUDIT-C as a screening instrument for this group. This study investigated the concurrent validity of the AUDIT-C in a sample of university students and suggests the most appropriate cutoff points. METHODS: Cross-sectional data of health surveys from 5,401 university and university of applied sciences in the Netherlands were used. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values for different cutoff scores of AUDIT-C were calculated for the total sample and for subgroups stratified by age, gender, and educational level. AUDIT-score ≥11 was used as the criterion of hazardous and harmful drinking. RESULTS: Twenty percent of students were hazardous and harmful drinkers. The area under the ROC curve was 0.922 (95% CI 0.914-0.930). At an AUDIT-C cutoff score of ≥7, sensitivity and specificity were both >80%, while other cutoffs showed less balanced results. A cutoff of ≥8 performed better among males, but for other subgroups ≥7 was most suitable. CONCLUSION: AUDIT-C seems valid in identifying hazardous and harmful drinking students, with suggested optimal cutoffs 7 (females) or 8 (males). However, considerations regarding avoiding false-positives versus false-negatives, in relation to the type of intervention following screening, could lead to selecting different cutoffs.

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INTRODUCTION: The expansion of methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) program requires more data about the factors affecting the effectiveness of treatment, especially behavioral data such as smoking and alcohol use among patients. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of tobacco and alcohol consumption and identify related factors among MMT patients in the Vietnamese rural mountainside. METHODS: We interviewed 241 MMT patients in two clinics in Tuyen Quang, a mountainous province in Vietnam. Patients were asked to report the smoking status (current smoker or not), nicotine dependence (by Fagerström test for nicotine dependence - FTND) and alcohol use (by using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test - AUDIT-C). EuroQol-5 dimensions-5 levels (EQ-5D-5L) and EQ-Visual analogue scale (EQ-VAS) were employed to measure health-related quality of life. Multivariate logistic and Tobit regressions were used to identify the associated factors. RESULTS: The majority of respondents were current smokers (75.7%) and a low proportion were hazardous drinkers (18.3%). People receiving treatment in a rural clinic (OR = 0.45; 95%CI = 0.22-0.92) and had problems in usual activities (OR = 0.20; 95%CI = 0.06-0.70) were less likely to be smokers. Q-VAS score (Coef. = 0.03; 95%CI = 0.02-0.05) and having problems in mobility (Coef. = 0.72; 95%CI = 0.03-1.42) was found to be associated with the increase of nicotine dependence. In terms of alcohol drinking, people with other jobs were more likely to drink hazardously compared to unemployed patients (OR = 2.86; 95%CI = 1.20-6.82). Similarly, patients having higher duration of MMT had higher likelihood of being hazardous drinkers (OR = 1.07; 95%CI = 1.01-1.13). CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the low rate of alcohol abusers but a considerably high proportion of current smokers among MMT patients in the rural mountainside area. Alcohol and tobacco counseling programs combined with social and family support also play an essential role in alcohol and tobacco control. In addition, implementing mass community-based behavioral change campaigns to reduce drug addiction-related stigmatization should also be prioritized.

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Substance abuse treatment utilization and patient characteristics of veterans (N = 167) drinking alcohol at risky levels at a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital were examined. Rates of brief intervention and specialty care were higher than those found in national samples in 2010, but fall short of recommended guidelines. Veterans receiving more care were older, lower-income, and less likely to be in a relationship. Care-receiving veterans had higher rates of mental health comorbidities and mental health treatment in the prior year for an issue other than substance use. Understanding patients' recent care history may help primary care providers to deliver care effectively.

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