Alcohol use has risen amid COVID-19 but smoking has decreased, according to Glasgow study
New research using data from the Understanding Society COVID-19 survey by the UK Household Longitudinal Study, explores how health behaviors have changed during the pandemic in Glasgow. There is some concern that the lockdown may have had unintended health consequences and this analysis looked in detail at people's drinking and smoking patterns, as well as their more general mental health. As a longitudinal study, Understanding Society has information about participants health before the coronavirus lockdown and the researchers were able to use this to see what has changed and what has stayed the same during this unusual period.
The researchers compared health behaviors reported in four waves of the main Understanding Society survey, between 2015 and 2019. They also used data from the COVID-19 survey collected in April 2020. They looked at mental health via the General Health Questionnaire, which is a screening tool for psychological distress. The research also considered cigarette smoking, vaping and alcohol consumption.