Did COVID-19-Related Alcohol Sales Restrictions Reduce Alcohol Consumption? Findings from a National Online Survey in South Africa

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dc.contributor.authorTheron, Marieke
dc.contributor.authorSwart, Rina
dc.contributor.authorLondani, Mukhethwa
dc.contributor.authorParry, Charles
dc.contributor.authorPetersen Williams, Petal
dc.contributor.authorHarker, Nadine
dc.date.accessioned2022-04-11T09:06:47Z
dc.date.available2022-04-11T09:06:47Z
dc.date.issued2022-02-19
dc.date.updated2022-02-24T14:50:35Z
dc.description.abstractBackground: South Africa has a high prevalence of heavy episodic drinking (HED). Due to the high levels of alcohol misuse and violence, public hospital intensive care units were often overrun during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research investigated alcohol intake behaviour change during differing levels of lockdown restrictions, which included bans on alcohol sales. Methods: A self-reported Facebook survey ran from July to November 2020. The questions included socio-demographics, income, alcohol intake, purchasing behaviour, and reasoning. Chi-square tests/Fisher&rsquo;s exact test for categorical data, Student&rsquo;s <i>t</i>-test for normal continuous data, and the Mann&ndash;Whitney U test for non-normal data were applied. Multiple logistic regression was run for HED versus moderate drinkers. Results: A total of 798 participants took part in the survey, of which 68.4% were female. Nearly 50% of participants fell into the HED category and the majority bought alcohol illegally during restrictions. HED respondents who drank more alcohol than usual during restrictions reported that they felt stressed, needed to relax, and were bored. Conclusions: Policies intended to increase the pricing of alcohol may have the potential to reduce alcohol intake. Reducing stress and anxiety may be key to curtailing HED during emergency situations.en_US
dc.identifierdoi: 10.3390/ijerph19042422
dc.identifier.apacitationTheron, M., Swart, R., Londani, M., Parry, C., Petersen Williams, P., & Harker, N. (2022). Did COVID-19-Related Alcohol Sales Restrictions Reduce Alcohol Consumption? Findings from a National Online Survey in South Africa. <i>International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health</i>, 19(4), 2422. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/36327en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationTheron, Marieke, Rina Swart, Mukhethwa Londani, Charles Parry, Petal Petersen Williams, and Nadine Harker "Did COVID-19-Related Alcohol Sales Restrictions Reduce Alcohol Consumption? Findings from a National Online Survey in South Africa." <i>International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health</i> 19, 4. (2022): 2422. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/36327en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationTheron, M., Swart, R., Londani, M., Parry, C., Petersen Williams, P. & Harker, N. 2022. Did COVID-19-Related Alcohol Sales Restrictions Reduce Alcohol Consumption? Findings from a National Online Survey in South Africa. <i>International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.</i> 19(4):2422. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/36327en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Theron, Marieke AU - Swart, Rina AU - Londani, Mukhethwa AU - Parry, Charles AU - Petersen Williams, Petal AU - Harker, Nadine AB - Background: South Africa has a high prevalence of heavy episodic drinking (HED). Due to the high levels of alcohol misuse and violence, public hospital intensive care units were often overrun during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research investigated alcohol intake behaviour change during differing levels of lockdown restrictions, which included bans on alcohol sales. Methods: A self-reported Facebook survey ran from July to November 2020. The questions included socio-demographics, income, alcohol intake, purchasing behaviour, and reasoning. Chi-square tests/Fisher&rsquo;s exact test for categorical data, Student&rsquo;s <i>t</i>-test for normal continuous data, and the Mann&ndash;Whitney U test for non-normal data were applied. Multiple logistic regression was run for HED versus moderate drinkers. Results: A total of 798 participants took part in the survey, of which 68.4% were female. Nearly 50% of participants fell into the HED category and the majority bought alcohol illegally during restrictions. HED respondents who drank more alcohol than usual during restrictions reported that they felt stressed, needed to relax, and were bored. Conclusions: Policies intended to increase the pricing of alcohol may have the potential to reduce alcohol intake. Reducing stress and anxiety may be key to curtailing HED during emergency situations. DA - 2022-02-19 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town IS - 4 J1 - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health KW - Facebook KW - illegal alcohol sales KW - COVID-19 pandemic KW - lockdown KW - heavy episodic drinking KW - coping mechanisms KW - anxiety KW - depression and alcohol policies LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PY - 2022 T1 - Did COVID-19-Related Alcohol Sales Restrictions Reduce Alcohol Consumption? Findings from a National Online Survey in South Africa TI - Did COVID-19-Related Alcohol Sales Restrictions Reduce Alcohol Consumption? Findings from a National Online Survey in South Africa UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/36327 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/36327
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationTheron M, Swart R, Londani M, Parry C, Petersen Williams P, Harker N. Did COVID-19-Related Alcohol Sales Restrictions Reduce Alcohol Consumption? Findings from a National Online Survey in South Africa. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022;19(4):2422. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/36327.en_ZA
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en_US
dc.sourceInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Healthen_US
dc.source.journalissue4en_US
dc.source.journalvolume19en_US
dc.source.pagination2422en_US
dc.source.urihttps://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
dc.subjectFacebooken_US
dc.subjectillegal alcohol sales
dc.subjectCOVID-19 pandemic
dc.subjectlockdown
dc.subjectheavy episodic drinking
dc.subjectcoping mechanisms
dc.subjectanxiety
dc.subjectdepression and alcohol policies
dc.titleDid COVID-19-Related Alcohol Sales Restrictions Reduce Alcohol Consumption? Findings from a National Online Survey in South Africaen_US
dc.typeJournal Articleen_US
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