Subhani M, Sheth A, Unitt S, et al. - The characteristics of inpatients with alcohol use disorders (AUD) were changed in the pandemic. Researchers reported a higher proportion of alcohol-dependent admissions with evidence that a younger, less deprived group had been significantly impacted. The study illustrated that universal alcohol screening (UAS) provides a beneficial tool to screen for AUD and to distinguish the change when facing sudden health crises.

• The study enrolled a total of 63,927 admissions (47,954 patients).

• Compared to pre-pandemic, the pandemic period had fewer overall admissions (27,349 vs 36,578, P < 0.001), fewer with AUD (17.6% vs 18.4%, P = 0.008) but a higher proportion of alcohol dependents (3.7% vs 3.0%, P < 0.0001).

• The results showed that in the pandemic those with AUD were more likely to be male (P = 0.003), white (P < 0.001), in a relationship (P < 0.001), of higher socioeconomic background (P < 0.001), have alcohol-related mental disorders (P = 0.002), emergency admission (P < 0.001), medical speciality admission (P < 0.001) and shorter length of stay (P < 0.033) in comparison with pre-pandemic AUD.

• Deaths were reported in covid-19 positive patients with concomitant AUD at a younger age (P < 0.05) than Covid-19 positive patients at low risk for AUD.