Alcohol consumption during COVID-19 in Latin America according to age and employment situation

Abstract

This research evaluated alcohol consumption in the Latin American and Latin Caribbean adult population during COVID-19 confinement, taking into account age and employment status. Non-probabilistic design with convenience sampling, with a sample of 4975 participants. Age, employment status and alcohol consumption were analyzed during confinement and retrospectively before the pandemic. The results show that regardless of the country, young people aged 18-29 decreased consumption during confinement; while the largest increase was in adults aged 45-54 years. Full-time workers consumed more than unemployed people. Full-time and part-time employees decreased their consumption during confinement. Self-employed workers showed significantly higher alcohol consumption than full-time and part-time employees during confinement. It is important to promote policies to prevent alcohol consumption in the workplace.