Close to 11 million US adults (nine percent of full-time US workers) meet the alcohol use disorder (AUD) diagnosis criteria. AUD is a disease described as an “impaired ability to stop or control alcohol use despite adverse consequences in one’s social life, work-life or health.”AUD is diagnosed based on how a person answers a list of questions.
The questions include:
• whether the person has tried to stop drinking previously but was unable to do so,
• whether they spend a lot of time being sick after drinking, or
• they continued drinking after having episodes of memory blackouts.
Survey Data from 110,000 Analyzed
Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine analyzed survey data from more than 110,000 Americans. The subjects were adults employed on a full-time basis. Senior investigator Laura J. Bierut, MD, explained that AUD is a big problem in the US and significant in many workplaces. Dr. Bierut stated the issue had likely be-come worse during the pandemic. The data indicates an economic incentive for employers and lawmakers to deal with this issue. Dr. Bierut and her colleagues analyzed data gathered from the 2015-2019 National Sur-vey on Drug Use and Health, conducted annually by SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration).
AUD Leads to Missed Workdays
The researchers found that people living with severe cases of AUD missed approximately 32 workdays annually due to sickness, injury, or just skipping work. This figure is more than twice as high as the number of workdays missed by workers not living with AUD. In total, workers with AUD missed over 232 million workdays per year.
Researchers also found:
• Survey respondents who did not meet the criteria for AUD missed about 13 days of work each year.
• On average, those with a mild case of AUD missed close to 18 workdays.
• People with a moderate case of AUD were away from work for about 24 days.
• Those with AUD represented approximately 9.3 percent of the total full-time workforce.
• People with “drinking problems” make up more than 14 percent of total absences from workplaces.
Dr. Bierut pointed out that employees who miss an excessive number of workdays, such as those with a moderate or severe case of AUD, risk losing their jobs. She said she hopes that the workplace may act as a point of contact where the employer notices the employee having difficulties with substance abuse. Instead of terminating the employee, the employer can intervene and assist the employee in finding appropriate treatment.
Alcohol Use Increased During Pandemic
Dr. Bierut and her team specifically stopped the data analysis the year before the pan-demic began. Dr. Ian C. Parsley explained that the researchers wanted to focus on pre-pandemic results. The routine of going to work and going home has stopped for many people, resulting in more people developing issues with alcohol. JAMA Network Open published the team’s findings on March 17 (online).
