Alcohol Consumption Among Older Adults in the United States Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Analysis of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System

Background: Alcohol consumption is responsible for numerous life-threatening diseases, including liver cirrhosis, heart disease, and various cancers. During the pandemic, alcohol related deaths increased from 2019 to 2021, topping out around 108,000 deaths related to alcohol. This trend introduced the question if heavy alcohol consumption and binge drinking increased during the pandemic as well, particularly in those 65 and older.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional analysis of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to determine whether rates of overall alcohol consumption, heavy consumption, or binge drinking deviated from 2017 through 2021. We used X² tests to determine changes in rates over the included years.

Results: Our findings showed the overall rate of alcohol use in populations 65 and older during 2017-2021 was approximately 42.3% which peaked in 2017 at 43.72% and declined each year resulting in the lowest rate (41.26%) in 2021 (X² = 8.96, P<.0001). Binge and heavy drinking rates were 5.10% and 4.23% across years, respectively, and annual changes were not statistically significant.

Conclusion: The impact of COVID on drinking behavior of older US adults seemed to be minimal in terms of binge or heavy drinking, while overall rates of alcohol consumption among this group declined. Reports among other US age groups showed increased consumption and deaths from alcohol use. Future research is needed to determine causes for the overall decrease in consumption or adaptive measures this group may have taken which led to minimal changes in binge or heavy drinking in contrast to younger populations.