Loneliness and Increased Hazardous Alcohol Use: Data from a Nationwide Internet Survey with 1-Year Follow-Up.
Int J Environ Res Public Health
; 19(19)2022 Sep 24.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2065920
ABSTRACT
We aimed to examine the association between loneliness and developing alcohol dependence or hazardous alcohol use. A cohort study was conducted utilizing data from a nationwide internet survey in 2021 and 2022 in Japan. A total of 15,854 follow-up participants (55% men, with a mean age of 52.8 years) were divided based on AUDIT scores nondrinkers (AUDIT 0), low-risk drinkers (AUDIT 1-7), medium-risk drinkers (AUD 8-14), high-risk drinkers (AUDIT 15-19), and probable alcohol dependence (AUDIT 20-40). The University of California, Los Angeles Loneliness Scale (Version 3), a short-form three-item scale, was used to assess loneliness (high loneliness score of ≥6). The prevalence of high loneliness was higher in nondrinkers than that in low- and medium-risk drinkers, i.e., 22%, 18%, and 17%, respectively, as well as in high-risk drinkers (32%) and those with probable alcohol dependence (43%) compared to non-high-risk drinkers (19%). After adjusting for various factors (sociodemographic, social isolation, psychological distress, and smoking), non-high-risk drinkers (AUDIT 0-14) with high loneliness were more likely to become high-or-over-risk drinkers (AUDIT 15-40) than those without high loneliness, with adjusted risk ratios of 1.45 (95% confidence interval 1.08-1.96) through multivariable binary logistic regression. Among non-high-risk drinkers, people with high loneliness scores at baseline were associated with increased high-risk drinking patterns with probable alcohol dependence.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Alcoholism
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Language:
English
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Ijerph191912086
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