Excess mortality in people hospitalised for alcohol use disorders before and during the pandemic – A registry-based retrospective cohort study

Introduction: The aim was to analyse mortality and estimate the life expectancy among people hospitalised for alcohol use disorders (AUD) compared with the general Czech population aged ≥20 years. A temporal perspective on excess mortality was used, covering three recent calendar periods before and during the pandemic. Methods: Three retrospective cohorts of the target population were constructed using registry-based data. The target population was defined as all adult patients (aged ≥20 years) admitted to the hospital for AUD (ICD-10 dg. of F10.x) between 2010 and 2021. Age-adjusted mortality rates and life expectancies were calculated for the comparative analysis. Official Czech mortality and vital statistics were used for the comparison. A Poisson log-linear regression model was used to test the effect of the pandemic period (2020–2021) on mortality in the AUD target population. Results: At age 20, the estimated life expectancy of the AUD target was 21–27 years less than that of the Czech general population. Excess mortality was relatively highest in young people aged 20–34 years and in adults aged 35–49 years. During the pandemic period 2020–2021, mortality rates in the target AUD increased significantly. However, relative inequalities with the general Czech population did not change significantly. Discussion and Conclusions: People hospitalised for AUD have much higher mortality rates, resulting in markedly reduced life expectancy. During the pandemic, their mortality rates increased even more. However, the increase was no greater than in the general Czech population.