Katarina Needham¹, Neil Langlois¹

¹Forensic Science SA and University of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate alcohol-related mortality in the coronial jurisdictions of Australia comparing pre-Covid-19 with Covid-19 time periods.

Method: De-identified data were provided by the National Coronial Information System, pre-coded as chronic alcoholic disease or alcohol intoxication. ANOVA was used to compare pre-Covid-19 with Covid-19 time periods. Approval for the project was provided by Forensic Science SA R&D committee.

Results: In Australia, deaths reported to a coroner in the chronic alcoholic disease group were significantly higher in the Covid-19 period compared with pre-Covid-19, with an increase seen in all jurisdictions. The number of deaths attributed to acute alcohol intoxication was also significantly greater during the Covid-19 time period compared with pre-Covid-19, but the extent varied with jurisdiction.

Conclusion: The number of deaths reported to a coroner in Australia attributed to effects of alcohol (both acute and chronic) showed an increase in the Covid-19 period compared with pre-Covid-19. This trend is in keeping with reports in the literature in other countries. Future research may extend the time period of analysis to determine if this trend is sustained or reverts to pre-Covid-19 levels.

Acknowledgement: The National Coronial Information System is acknowledged as a data source for this study.

 

Statement of Originality:

Katarina Needham initiated the study, performed the analysis, and interpreted the results to produce the abstract and poster. All authors have reviewed the results and approved the final version of the abstract.