Excuse Me, Please, One More Drink*: Increase in Alcohol-Induced Deaths During COVID-19 in New York
Over the past 10 years, New York experienced the single largest increase in alcohol-induced deaths in 2020
After posting my recent findings on opioid deaths during the height of COVID-19 in New York State, (“A Regional View of Drug Deaths in New York State During the Height of COVID-19”) a friend reached out and said it would be interesting to see what, if any, impact the COVID pandemic had on alcohol misuse in New York. My friend noted that alcohol misuse is often put on the back burner by policymakers with much of their focus instead on the opioid crisis.
Recent reports have found increased alcohol consumption during the pandemic. A Harris Poll conducted in the fall of 2021 found that 1 in 5 Americans responded that they were drinking an “unhealthy amount” during the ongoing pandemic.
Analyzing the latest federal CDC WONDER data, alcohol-induced deaths increased dramatically in 2020 both nationally and in New York State. From 2019 to 2020 alcohol related deaths increased 19% in New York State, rising from 1,581 deaths in 2019 to 1,883 in 2020.
Over the past 10 years, New York experienced the single largest increase in alcohol-induced deaths in 2020. In fact a similar pattern emerges when you compare to drug deaths over the same period. In 2019, alcohol deaths declined 5% (and drug deaths declined 7% over the two previous years). In fact, in the previous 10 years of annual change in alcohol deaths never increased by double digits until the height of COVID in 2020 (see the chart below).
The national statistics were even worse, with alcohol-induced deaths increasing 26% from 2019 to 2020 (39,043 deaths in 2019 to 49,061 in 2020). Equalizing for population, nearly 10 out of every 100,000 people in New York State died from alcohol- induced causes in 2020 and nearly 15 out of every 100,000 people died for the same reason nationwide. As the chart below illustrates, per capita alcohol fatalities are up from 2019 in New York as well as the rest of the nation. Again, on a per capita basis New York fares better than the nationwide average.
The above chart also compares alcohol-induced deaths to drug deaths. During the peak of COVID, both drug and alcohol deaths increased. Yet, overall, drug deaths were greater in New York (10 per 100K for alcohol versus 23 per 100K for drugs) and in the nation as a whole (15 per 100K for alcohol and 29 per 100K for drugs).
Similar to drug deaths, alcohol-induced deaths were greatest among men. Alcohol deaths were three times greater among men than women.
I noted in previous posts that the pandemic exacerbated health disparities, especially among communities of color. Data illustrate drug deaths were greatest in the Black community during 2020. With alcohol-induced deaths, the impact was greatest among Whites, although virtually identical among the Latino community (see chart below).
Although the data show that alcohol-induced deaths significantly increased during the peak of the pandemic in 2020, this is a snapshot of a potentially greater and longer term problem. Health issues associated with increased levels of alcohol consumption do not always appear immediately. As a recent study in the journal on Hepatology found, the one year increase of alcohol consumption during the most intense period of the pandemic could result in 8,000 additional deaths, 18,700 additional cases of liver disease, and 1,000 additional cases of liver cancer by 2040. In other words, the new data are a red flag and we’re just beginning to understand the long term impacts because of the pandemic. There is still much to untangle.
*Courtesy of the Dave Matthews Band’s, Grace is Gone.
