Publication date: Aug 23, 2024
The national lockdowns that occurred all over the world in response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have been found to have impacted alcohol use. The aim was to evaluate the impact of COVID-19-related national lockdowns on alcohol-related traffic collisions, injuries, and fatalities in Lithuania. Using monthly data from the Lithuanian Road Police Service for January 2004 to December 2022, we performed interrupted time-series analyses using a generalized additive model to evaluate the impact of COVID-19-related national lockdowns on alcohol-related traffic collisions, injuries, and fatalities. In Lithuania, the COVID-19-related lockdowns occurred from March 2020 to June 2020 and from November 2020 to June 2021. Although overall rates for traffic collisions and injuries decreased during the COVID-19-related lockdowns in Lithuania, these lockdowns were associated with a 3. 21% (95% CI: 1. 19%, 5. 23%) increase in the relative proportion of alcohol-related traffic collisions and a 2. 46% (95% CI: 0. 12%, 4. 80%) increase in the relative proportion of alcohol-related traffic injuries. The association between the lockdowns and alcohol-related traffic fatalities was not statistically significant. The COVID-19-related national lockdowns in Lithuania were associated with a decrease in the overall rate of traffic collisions and injuries, but an increase in the relative proportion of alcohol-related traffic collisions and injuries.
| Concepts | Keywords |
|---|---|
| Coronavirus | alcohol‐related |
| June | COVID‐19 |
| Lithuania | time‐series analysis |
| Lockdowns | traffic harm |
Semantics
| Type | Source | Name |
|---|---|---|
| disease | MESH | COVID-19 |
| drug | DRUGBANK | Ethanol |
| disease | VO | monthly |
| disease | VO | time |
| disease | MESH | Long Covid |