Cent Eur J Public Health 2025, 33(2):122-131 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a8410

Alcohol use and COVID-19: three-year impact for the Czech Republic

Vladimír Rogalewicz¹, Benjamin Petruželka^{2, 3}, Jaroslav Vacek^{2, 3}, Michal Miovský^{2, 3}, Ingeborg Rossow⁴, Carolin Kilian⁵, Jakob Manthey^{6, 7}, Miroslav Barták^{2, 3}

¹ Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

² Department of Addictology, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

³ Department of Addictology, General University Hospital in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic

⁴ Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway

⁵ Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada

⁶ Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Centre for Interdisciplinary Addiction Research, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany

⁷ Department of Psychiatry, Medical Faculty, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

Objectives: The aim of the study was to describe alcohol consumption and its changes in the Czech Republic during the period of governmental restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. To this goal, an overview of the governmental measures that may have affected alcohol consumption was compiled from various sources (mostly media reports).

Methods: The paper analyses three surveys where the group from Charles University, Prague, participated in design and execution: the European Study Group on Alcohol use and COVID-19 (ESAC) convenience online survey that (in Czechia) took place at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, in April through June 2020 (n = 1,434), a computer-assisted web interviews (CAWI) survey carried out in November 2021 (n = 790), and another CAWI survey carried out in November 2022 (n = 1,738). These are complemented by a brief overview of official data on alcohol sales between 2019 and 2021 in Czechia from two sources, Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic and the Nielsen IQ market research company.

Results: Changes in alcohol use appeared to be distributed among the population unequally, when the pandemic influenced different population groups in a different way. In all three surveys, the majority of respondents reported no change in their drinking frequency or quantity. Decreases in alcohol use were more prevalent than increases. Most pronounced changes were detected in at-risk drinkers, who have increased their alcohol use. Official revenue data suggest a small reduction in total alcohol sales in 2019-2021.

Conclusions: Our research results do not support the hypothesis that substantial and unexpected social and economic changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, along with corresponding measures, acted as stressors that would have caused the majority of people in Czechia changing their behaviour related to alcohol use; however, high-risk users increased their consumption.

Klíčová slova: COVID-19, pandemic, anti-epidemic regulations, alcohol consumption, risk alcohol drinking, Czech Republic

Vloženo: 9. říjen 2024; Revidováno: 13. červen 2025; Přijato: 13. červen 2025; Zveřejněno: 30. červen 2025  Zobrazit citaci