Anxiety symptoms and alcohol abuse during the COVID‐19 pandemic: A cross‐sectional study with Brazilian dental undergraduate students

Fernandez, Matheus dos Santos; Vieira, Igor Soares; da Silva, Nathalia Ribeiro Jorge; Cardoso, Taiane de Azevedo; Bielavski, Camilla Hübner; Rakovski, Coral; Silva, Alexandre Emidio Ribeiro

AIM: The aim of this study is to assess whether anxiety symptoms are associated with alcohol abuse in Brazilian undergraduate dental students during the COVID‐19 pandemic. METHOD: A cross‐sectional study was conducted. A semi‐structured questionnaire addressing the variables of interest was hosted on Google Forms and shared with dental undergraduate students from all Brazilian regions between July 8 and 27, 2020. Alcohol abuse was measured using the Cut down, Annoyed, Guilty, Eye opener (CAGE) questionnaire score of ≥2. All participants responded to the seven‐item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD‐7). Hierarchical logistic regression was also conducted. RESULTS: Among the 1050 students evaluated, 18.7% (n = 196) had a positive screening for alcohol abuse during the pandemic. The prevalence of mild (GAD‐7 = 5–9), moderate (GAD‐7 = 10–14), and severe (GAD‐7 ≥15) anxiety among students were 31.3%, 29.6%, and 24.2%, respectively. The final hierarchical logistic regression model showed that during the COVID‐19 pandemic, anxiety levels predict the likelihood of alcohol abuse among students with moderate (OR 10.05 [95% IC: 4.12–24.52]) or severe (OR 15.82 [95% IC: 6.46–38.73]) anxiety, especially for male students (moderate anxiety: OR 17.06 [95% CI: 8.36–34.78]; severe anxiety: OR 28.38 [95% CI: 8.62–38.24]). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of alcohol abuse and moderate or severe anxiety in Brazilian undergraduate dental students during the COVID‐19 pandemic was high. Male students may be more sensitive to the presence of anxiety symptoms in this period, thus contributing to higher levels of alcohol consumption, in comparison to female students. Intervention strategies that promote the adoption of healthier lifestyles can enable the effective management of anxiety symptoms during the pandemic and thus, hold the potential to reduce exacerbated alcohol intake in this population.