Prevalence and association between alcohol, tobacco, and COVID-19: a study from a tribal predominant district in eastern India

TL;DR

This study found that people with COVID-19 in a tribal district of India used alcohol and tobacco more than the general population, and these habits increased the risk of complications.

Contribution

The study provides new evidence on the link between alcohol/tobacco use and post-COVID-19 complications in a tribal population.

Findings

Tobacco and alcohol use were significantly higher among COVID-19 patients compared to the general population in the district.

Tobacco and alcohol users had higher odds of post-COVID-19 complications.

Incomplete vaccination and comorbidities were also linked to increased complication risks.

Abstract

Alcohol and tobacco use has been proposed to significantly affect COVID-19 outcomes. The study aimed to estimate the prevalence of alcohol and tobacco use among COVID-19-positive patients and compare it with the general population prevalence rates. It also aimed to assess and determine the association between the severity of COVID-19 illness and the complications with alcohol and tobacco use.

For this, a cross-sectional, retrospective, telephone-based study was conducted using a structured questionnaire among COVID-19 diagnosed patients in the district of Deoghar of the Indian state of Jharkhand. A multinomial logistic regression is done to determine the association.

Among 1,425 patients interviewed, tobacco and alcohol were used by 22.31 and 9.96%, significantly more than the prevalence of tobacco (Z = 4.9485, p < 0.00001) and alcohol use (Z = 7.118, p < 0.00001), respectively, in the district (tobacco-11.7% and alcohol-4.8%).

In a regression model, patients with co-morbidity had higher odds of severe [3.34 (1.99–5.62)] and moderate [2.95 (1.97–4.41)] COVID-19. Young [0.12 (0.04–0.38)] and middle-aged individuals [0.23 (0.13–0.4)], people below the poverty line 0.28 (0.11–0.69) are at lower odds of severe COVID-19. Tobacco users [1.58 (1.16–2.14)], alcohol users [1.53 (1.03–2.28)], incomplete vaccination [3.24 (1.49–7.01)], and patients with comorbidity [3.6 (2.79–4.68)] were found to have higher odds of post-COVID-19 complications.

People with COVID-19 in our study population had significantly higher tobacco and alcohol use compared to the general population. Tobacco and alcohol use significantly increases the risk of post-COVID-19 complications. The study highlights the need for addiction treatment services to prevent complications during future pandemics.

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