CAPE TOWN - Limiting alcohol sales or imposing restrictions are not effective in reducing intake in people classified as heavy episodic drinkers.
Heavy episodic drinkers consumed more alcohol than usual during both increased and decreased lockdown restrictions, according to UCT research published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health which also found that this category reported drinking more alcohol because they felt stressed, felt a need to relax, and felt bored.
Researchers conducted a survey on Facebook from July to November 2020 with 798 participants of which 68.4% were female.
Fewer people categorised as heavy episodic drinkers thought alcohol restrictions were a good incentive to reduce their alcohol intake.
The majority reported buying alcohol illegally during bans on alcohol sales.
The odds of being classified as a heavy episodic drinker were increased for people younger than 65, males, people who drink more frequently than monthly, people who bought alcohol illegally during the alcohol sales restrictions, and those who reported that reducing drinking was more difficult during the restrictions.
Nadine Harker, UCT associate professor and works at the Drug Research Unit at the SA Medical Research (SAMRC) said: “We found that heavy episodic drinkers were prone to consuming more alcohol during restrictions, while moderate drinkers drank the same as usual or less.
“Nearly half of the 798 participants who completed the Facebook survey were classified as heavy episodic drinkers (HED), with more than 60% of males and 43% of females falling in the HED category.”
The increased lockdown restrictions were especially relevant to increased stress and anxiety compared to decreased lockdown restrictions when wanting to relax was mentioned before stress, said Hanker.
“During decreased restrictions, the reasons heavy episodic drinkers gave for drinking more alcohol that were significantly more frequent than for moderate drinkers were ‘wanting to relax/switch off’, ‘feeling stressed out’, and ‘celebrating when Covid-19 restrictions were lifted/relaxed’.
“Interestingly, we see that ‘being bored’ moved from third to fifth most frequently mentioned,” she said.
More moderate drinkers stated that they drank less alcohol because ‘it is more difficult to get alcohol with restrictions on going out and shops being closed’ and ‘I haven’t been able to socialise or go out to the pub’, according to Dr Petal Petersen-Williams of the Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health at UCT and specialist scientist in the Alcohol, Tobacco and other Drug Research Unit at SAMRC.
Moderate drinkers said that the ‘restrictions were a good time to reduce alcohol intake’ significantly more frequently than the HED group during increased restrictions; it was the fourth most frequent reason given for drinking less.
“Moderate alcohol consumers may benefit from these restrictions by using them as an incentive to reduce their alcohol intake,” she said.
The researchers believe that the policies intended to increase the pricing of alcohol, such as the World Health Organisation’s strategy of increasing excise taxes and minimum unit pricing, may have the potential to reduce alcohol intake in a time of crisis.
Cape Times