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During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, there was a 34% increase in alcohol withdrawal (AW) rates among hospitalized patients at ChristianaCare, according to a research letter published today in the
The study is believed to be the first to quantify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on alcohol withdrawal among hospitalized patients.
The retrospective study conducted at ChristianaCare, one of the largest health systems in the mid-Atlantic region, found that the rate of alcohol withdrawal in hospitalized patients was consistently higher in 2020 compared to both 2019 and the average of 2019 and 2018. Our findings are relevant nationally and serve as a clarion call to alert other hospital systems to the increased need to screen for and treat alcohol use withdrawal, and to refer patients for ongoing alcohol treatment, said Terry Horton, M.D., ChristianaCare s chief of Addiction Medicine and senior author on the research letter.