TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2021//
TI  - The early impact of COVID-19 on the incidence, prevalence, and severity of alcohol use and other drugs: a systematic review
JO  - Drug and alcohol dependence
A1  - Schmidt, Rose A.
A1  - Genois, Rosalie
A1  - Jin, Jonathan
A1  - Vigo, Daniel
A1  - Rehm, Jürgen
A1  - Rush, Brian
SP  - e109065
EP  - e109065
VL  - 228
IS  - 
N2  - BACKGROUND: The aim of this paper was to examine the early impact of COVID-19 on substance use to assess implications for planning substance use treatment and support systems. <br><br>METHOD: A systematic review of literature published up to March 2021 was conducted to summarize changes in prevalence, incidence, and severity of substance use associated with COVID-19 and the accompanying public health measures, including lockdown, stay-at-home orders, and social distancing. <br><br>RESULTS: We identified 53 papers describing changes to substance use at the population level. The majority of papers described changes related to alcohol use and most relied on self-reported measures of consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic, compared with pre-pandemic use. There was less evidence to support changes in non-alcohol substance use. In general, risky pre-pandemic alcohol use, caregiving responsibilities, stress, depression, anxiety, and current treatment for a mental disorder were found to be associated with increased substance use. <br><br>CONCLUSION: This review provides preliminary data on changes in substance use, indicating that certain segments of the population increased their alcohol use early on in the COVID-19 pandemic and may be at greater risk of harm and in need of additional services. There is a need for additional population-level information on substance use to inform evidence-based rapid responses from a treatment system perspective.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0376-8716
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2021.109065
ID  - ref1
ER  -