Alcohol use disorder in the COVID‐19 era: Position paper of the Italian Society on Alcohol (SIA)

• Published in: Addiction biology Vol. 27; no. 1; pp. e13090 - n/a
• Main Authors: Testino, Gianni, Vignoli, Teo, Patussi, Valentino, Allosio, Pierluigi, Amendola, Maria Francesca, Aricò, Sarino, Baselice, Aniello, Balbinot, Patrizia, Campanile, Vito, Fanucchi, Tiziana, Macciò, Livia, Meneguzzi, Cristina, Mioni, Davide, Parisi, Michele, Renzetti, Doda, Rossin, Raffaella, Gandin, Claudia, Bottaro, Luigi Carlo, Caio, Giacomo, Lungaro, Lisa, Zoli, Giorgio, Scafato, Emanuele, Caputo, Fabio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.01.2022; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Addictions; Alcohol use; alcohol use disorder; Alcoholics Anonymous; Alcoholism; Alcoholism - epidemiology; Alcoholism - therapy; Ambulatory Care - organization & administration; Communicable Disease Control; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 - epidemiology; COVID-19 - prevention & control; COVID-19 Drug Treatment; COVID-19 Vaccines - therapeutic use; COVID‐19 infection; Delivery of Health Care - organization & administration; Disease Susceptibility; Drug addiction; Drug Interactions; Gastroenterology; Humans; Immunosuppression Therapy - adverse effects; infections; Italy - epidemiology; Liver Cirrhosis, Alcoholic - epidemiology; Liver Cirrhosis, Alcoholic - therapy; Liver diseases; Liver Transplantation; Medical treatment; Original; Pandemics; Patients; Recurrence; SARS-CoV-2; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Social interactions; Societies, Medical; Telemedicine; Vaccination; Italy; alcohol use disorder; infections; telemedicine; COVID-19 infection; drug interactions
• ISSN: 1355-6215; 1369-1600; 1369-1600
• DOI: 10.1111/adb.13090

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) first emerged in China in November 2019. Most governments have responded to the COVID‐19 pandemic by imposing a lockdown. Some evidence suggests that a period of isolation might have led to a spike in alcohol misuse, and in the case of patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD), social isolation can favour lapse and relapse. The aim of our position paper is to provide specialists in the alcohol addiction field, in psychopharmacology, gastroenterology and in internal medicine, with appropriate tools to better manage patients with AUD and COVID‐19,considering some important topics: (a) the susceptibility of AUD patients to infection; (b) the pharmacological interaction between medications used to treat AUD and to treat COVID‐19; (c) the reorganization of the Centre for Alcohol Addiction Treatment for the management of AUD patients in the COVID‐19 era (group activities, telemedicine, outpatients treatment, alcohol‐related liver disease and liver transplantation, collecting samples); (d) AUD and SARS‐CoV‐2 vaccination. Telemedicine/telehealth will undoubtedly be useful/practical tools even though it remains at an elementary level; the contribution of the family and of caregivers in the management of AUD patients will play a significant role; the multidisciplinary intervention involving experts in the treatment of AUD with specialists in the treatment of COVID‐19 disease will need implementation. Thus, the COVID‐19 pandemic is rapidly leading addiction specialists towards a new governance scenario of AUD, which necessarily needs an in‐depth reconsideration, focusing attention on a safe approach in combination with the efficacy of treatment. All health care systems need to be reorganized during and after the COVID‐19 pandemic, and also the CAATs in order to combine operator safety with patient safety and care. The multi‐disciplinary intervention involving experts in the treatment of AUD and ALD with specialists in the treatment of COVID‐19 disease will need implementation and the contribution of the family and of care‐givers in the management of AUD and ALD patients will play a significant role.