Age-Adjusted Rate of Alcohol-Induced Deaths Up From 2019 to 2020

FRIDAY, Nov. 4, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- From 2019 to 2020, the age-adjusted rate of alcohol-induced deaths increased 26 percent, according to a November data brief published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Health Statistics.

Merianne Rose Spencer, M.P.H., from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, and colleagues presented overall and sex-specific trends in alcohol-induced death rates from 2000 to 2020, focusing on the rates for 2019 and 2020, using data from the National Vital Statistics System.

The researchers found that the age-adjusted rate of alcohol-induced deaths increased 26 percent from 2019 to 2020 (10.4 to 13.1 per 100,000 standard population). In 2020, the rates of alcohol-induced deaths increased with age for both men and women, peaking for those aged 55 to 64 years and then decreasing for those in age groups 65 years and older. The rates of alcohol-induced deaths increased across all age groups for those aged 25 years and older for women from 2019 to 2020; for men, increases were seen across all age groups younger than 85 years. From 2019 to 2020, deaths from alcohol-induced acute pancreatitis, deaths from mental and behavioral disorders due to use of alcohol, and deaths from alcoholic liver disease increased 50, 33, and 23 percent, respectively (from 0.1 to 0.2, 3.0 to 4.0, and 6.4 to 7.9, respectively).

"Recent studies on alcohol-associated liver disease and the COVID-19 pandemic have reported several factors (for example, alcohol consumption worsening COVID-19-induced inflammation, increased risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes among patients with chronic liver disease, delays or avoidance in seeking medical attention, and reduced access to care, such as for liver transplants) that support these findings," the authors write.

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