That old saw about people not drinking more when times get tough (they just lower the price point) may not apply during economic challenges, but it’s not true when those hard times are a result of a global pandemic.
That, at any rate, is the conclusion bev/al marketers might draw from a just-published study of millennials.by Millennium Health, published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
The Millennium study analyzed the results of 2,000,000 unique patients, from urine specimens collected between January 1, 2013, and December 31, 2020 in all 50 states, and found:
- 16.73% were positive for alcohol.
- Those most likely to test positive were male patients, 45-64 years old, and from a primary care clinical setting
- A small but significant increase in alcohol positivity was noted during the COVID-19 timeframe
- Alcohol use is influenced by multiple factors, including season; positivity was highest in the summer and lowest in the winter
“We used our national database of definitive UDT results to help identify factors influencing alcohol use in patients presenting to a healthcare facility,” says Kelly Olson, PhD, Director, Clinical Affairs and lead author of the study. “Knowing these characteristics and monitoring for alcohol use can help identify those at increased risk, provide an opportunity to intervene, and help improve clinical decision-making.”
The Drug and Alcohol Dependence study can be accessed here.