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Aims: To investigate changes in alcohol consumption during the first months of the COVID‐19 pandemic in Europe as well as its associations with income and experiences of distress related to the pandemic. Design Cross‐sectional on‐line survey conducted between 24 April and 22 July 2020. Setting: Twenty‐one European countries. Participants: A total of 31 964 adults reporting past‐year drinking. Measurements Changes in alcohol consumption were measured by asking respondents about changes over the previous month in their drinking frequency, the quantity they consumed and incidence of heavy episodic drinking events. Individual indicators were combined into an aggregated consumption‐change score and scaled to a possible range of −1 to +1. Using this score as the outcome, multi‐level linear regressions tested changes in overall drinking, taking into account sampling weights and baseline alcohol consumption [Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT‐C)] and country of residence serving as random intercept. Similar models were conducted for each single consumption‐change indicator. Findings The aggregated consumption‐change score indicated an average decrease in alcohol consumption of −0.14 [95% confidence interval (CI) = −0.18, −0.10]. Statistically significant decreases in consumption were found in all countries, except Ireland (−0.08, 95% CI = −0.17, 0.01) and the United Kingdom (+0.10, 95% CI = 0.03, 0.17). Decreases in drinking were mainly driven by a reduced frequency of heavy episodic drinking events (−0.17, 95% CI = −0.20, −0.14). Declines in consumption were less marked among those with low‐ or average incomes and those experiencing distress. Conclusions: On average, alcohol consumption appears to have declined during the first months of the COVID‐19 pandemic in Europe. Both reduced availability of alcohol and increased distress may have affected consumption, although the former seems to have had a greater impact in terms of immediate effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background and aims: Studies have shown that alcohol consumption is a risk factor for oral, pharyngeal, laryngeal, esophageal, liver, colon, rectal and breast cancer. It would therefore be expected that cancer prevention organizations would incorporate these facts into their public stance on the consumption of alcohol. The aims of this study were to: (1) assess how national cancer societies in developed English‐speaking countries [i.e. English‐speaking countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD)] communicate alcohol‐related cancer risk to the public and (2) compare whether these organization's advocacy of increased alcohol taxes is in line with their advocacy of tobacco tax increases to reduce cancer risk. Methods: We searched the websites of the following national cancer organizations for all statements related to the relationship between alcohol consumption and cancer risk: Cancer Council Australia, Canadian Cancer Society, Irish Cancer Society, Cancer Society New Zealand, Cancer Research UK and the American Cancer Society. A categorical system was developed to code the qualitative data for health statements, alcohol consumption recommendations, and tax policy recommendations. Websites were analyzed in March of 2017. Results: All organizations, with the exception of the American Cancer Society and Canadian Cancer Society, state that alcohol is a group 1 carcinogen and that even low‐level alcohol consumption increases risk for some cancers. Additionally, while the American Cancer Society supports increasing tobacco taxes through its cancer action network, it has not advocated for increased alcohol taxes in relation to support for tobacco tax increases. Conclusion: Analysis in 2017 of the websites for national cancer societies in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States—including Cancer Council Australia, the Canadian Cancer Society, the Irish Cancer Society, Cancer Society New Zealand, Cancer Research UK and the American Cancer Society—shows that only the American Cancer Society and Canadian Cancer Society websites fail to state that alcohol is a group 1 carcinogen and can cause cancer at low doses, and that there is no safe threshold for cancer risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]