Alcohol consumption and COVID-19 in Europe: how the pandemic hit the weak

INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic came along with several health and social unprecedented emergencies, among which handling people with substance use disorder issues. METHODS: In this work, data from a cross-sectional online survey conducted among more than 40,000 adults in 21 European countries during the spring of 2020 are analyzed. The survey recorded participants drinking habits during the year preceding the survey and the changes in alcohol consumption during lockdown. The analyses focused on alcohol consumers' type, investigating on the behavioral change in people who already had a problematic alcohol consumption attitude. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The results show how subjects with risky or hazardous use of alcohol increased both drinking quantity and frequency in most European countries, underlining the urge to establish regulations on online and home delivered alcoholic beverages availability and reinforcing and restructuring health care services.