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Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused many people mental distress. Negative changes have been reported in physical activity, sleep, alcohol consumption, and smoking. Many patients with alcoholic liver disease (ALD) have a tendency for alcohol dependence, but there are no reports on how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected ALD patients. Aims: The purpose of this study was to clarify the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on ALD patients. Methods: The study consisted of two parts. In the first part, changes in the alcohol consumption and blood biochemistry of ALD patients who continued to visit our hospital as outpatients before and during the COVID-19 pandemic were compared. In the second part, the clinical backgrounds at the time of the initial examination of ALD patients who were first examined in the year before the COVID-19 pandemic (before outbreak group) and ALD patients who were first examined in the six months after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic (after outbreak group) were compared. Patients in the after outbreak group were asked whether their motivation to drink was related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: In part 1, of the 95 ALD patients surveyed, alcohol consumption increased after the start of the pandemic in 20 (21.1%) patients, and 13 (65%) of these 20 patients blamed the increase on the COVID-19 pandemic. Gamma-glutamyltransferase levels increased and prothrombin activity (PT%) decreased markedly after the start of the pandemic in the 20 patients in this increased alcohol consumption group. Although 32 patients reported that their alcohol consumption remained unchanged, liver function appeared to deteriorate after the start of the pandemic, which suggests that ALD patients’ self-reports of alcohol consumption were inaccurate. In part 2, the clinical backgrounds of 28 ALD patients first examined in our hospital in the year before the COVID-19 pandemic and 12 ALD patients first examined in the six months after the start of the pandemic were compared. Liver damage was more severe in the after outbreak group, and 8 of these 12 patients (66.7%) blamed their drinking on the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the difference was not significant, there tended to be more employed people among the ALD patients who were first examined after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: Liver function in ALD worsened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In some ALD patients who were first examined for ALD after the start of the pandemic, the motive for drinking was associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. |
