Temporal association of new onset alcohol use disorder following SARS-CoV-2 infection from 2020-2022

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES/GOALS During the pandemic, alcohol related deaths increased by 25%. To help understand how we might mitigate this negative outcome, we sought to examine the association of new diagnosis of alcohol use disorder (AUD) with SARS-CoV2 through two years of the pandemic. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION Using a non-date-shifted TriNetX database, we conducted a retrospective cohort analysis of electronic health records of patients age ≥12 years who had been diagnosed either with COVID-19 (n=1,359,817) or other respiratory infections with no record of COVID-19 (n=2,013,031). Patients were then matched for propensity score risk for AUD, and results were analyzed by three-month intervals from January 2020 through January 2022, in blocks numbered 1-8. Results were expressed as hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for diagnosis of AUD from two weeks to six months following COVID-19 diagnosis. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: There was significant excess risk compared to control cohorts of AUD following COVID-19 diagnoses made during the first three months of the pandemic (HR (CI)) block 1 2.41(1.89,3.08);no excess risk was seen for the remainder of 2020 (blocks 2-4) (HR1.01-1.14, NS). The excess risk increased again in 2021 as the delta and omicron variants emerged (HR and 95% CI) block 5 were 1.26(1.11, 1.43));block 6 1.88(1.62-2.18));block 7 1.24(1.10,1.41);block 8 1.12(1.0-1.25). COVID-19 diagnosis was associated with clinically-evident AUD under some pandemic circumstances. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: COVID-19 early in the pandemic (block 1) was associated with substantial excess risk for new diagnosis of AUD, with smaller excess risk after COVID-19 during 2021 (blocks 5-7), and no excess risk otherwise. Diagnosis of COVID-19 and pandemic contextual factors are associated with increased risk for AUD.