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Change in alcohol consumption during the Covid-19 pandemic and associations with mental health and financial hardship: results from a survey of Wisconsin patients with cancer

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Abstract

Purpose

Alcohol consumption increases health risks for patients with cancer. The Covid-19 pandemic may have affected drinking habits for these individuals. We surveyed patients with cancer to examine whether changes in drinking habits were related to mental health or financial effects of the pandemic.

Methods

From October 2020 to April 2021, adult patients (age 18–80 years at diagnosis) treated for cancer in southcentral Wisconsin were invited to complete a survey. Age-adjusted percentages for history of anxiety or depression, emotional distress, and financial impacts of Covid-19 overall and by change in alcohol consumption (non-drinker, stable, decreased, or increased) were obtained via logistic regression.

Results

In total, 1,875 patients were included in the analysis (median age 64, range 19–87 years), including 9% who increased and 23% who decreased drinking. Compared to stable drinkers (32% of sample), a higher proportion of participants who increased drinking alcohol also reported anxiety or depression (45% vs. 26%), moderate to severe emotional distress (61% vs. 37%) and viewing Covid-19 as a threat to their community (67% vs. 55%). Decreased (vs. stable) drinking was associated with higher prevalence of depression or anxiety diagnosis, emotional distress, and negative financial impacts of the pandemic. Compared to non-drinkers (36% of sample), participants who increased drinking were more likely to report emotional distress (61% vs. 48%).

Conclusions

Patients with cancer from Wisconsin who changed their alcohol consumption during the Covid-19 pandemic were more likely to report poor mental health including anxiety, depression, and emotional distress than persons whose alcohol consumption was stable.

Implications for cancer survivors

Clinicians working with cancer survivors should be aware of the link between poor mental health and increased alcohol consumption and be prepared to offer guidance or referrals to counseling, as needed.

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Data availability

Participants did not consent to data sharing for this project, and consequently data are not available.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Eileen McGuine, Claudia Vredeveld, Kaitlyn Lappen-Landwehr, Nicole Korp, and Kirstie Chu for their assistance with data collection; Oliver Eng for assistance with data linkage; Dr. Amanda Parkes for advice on study design; Jenna Igl, Stephanie Krislov, Bryan Summ, and Kyle Frisch for study support; and Julie McGregor for project coordination.

Funding

This study was supported by the National Institute of Health grant UL1TR002373 to the University of Wisconsin-Madison Institute for Clinical and Translational Research and a grant from the National Cancer Institute to the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center (P30CA014520). The funding sources had no role in the study design, collection, analysis or interpretation of the data, writing the manuscript, or the decision to submit the paper for publication.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center, Madison, WI, USA

    Thomas Lawler, Shaneda Warren Andersen, Amy Trentham-Dietz, Kristin Litzelman, Ronald E. Gangnon, John M. Hampton, Kristine Kwekkeboom & Noelle K. LoConte

  2. Department of Population Health Sciences, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Shaneda Warren Andersen, Amy Trentham-Dietz, Ajay K. Sethi, Kristen M. C. Malecki & Ronald E. Gangnon

  3. Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center, Rochester, MN, USA

    Amye J. Tevaarwerk

  4. Division of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Kristen M. C. Malecki

  5. School of Human Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Kristin Litzelman

  6. Division of Hematology, Medical Oncology and Palliative Care, University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center, Madison, WI, USA

    Priyanka A. Pophali

  7. Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Ronald E. Gangnon

  8. School of Nursing, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Kristine Kwekkeboom

  9. Department of Medicine, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Noelle K. LoConte

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  1. Thomas Lawler
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Contributions

T.L. conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, writing – original draft, writing – review & editing, visualization: S.W.A. conceptualization, writing – review & editing, visualization: A.T-D. conceptualization, methodology, writing – review & editing, visualization, resources, supervision, funding acquisition, investigation, data curation: A.S. conceptualization, writing – review & editing: A.T. conceptualization, writing – review & editing: K.M. conceptualization, writing – review & editing: K.L. conceptualization, writing – review & editing: P.P. conceptualization, writing – review & editing: R.G writing – review & editing, visualization: J.H. writing – review & editing: K.K. conceptualization, writing – review & editing: N.L. conceptualization, writing – review & editing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thomas Lawler.

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This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. The Health Sciences Institutional Review Board provided approval for this study.

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All participants provided written informed consent.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Lawler, T., Warren Andersen, S., Trentham-Dietz, A. et al. Change in alcohol consumption during the Covid-19 pandemic and associations with mental health and financial hardship: results from a survey of Wisconsin patients with cancer. J Cancer Surviv (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-023-01502-1

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