{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,5]],"date-time":"2026-03-05T18:51:48Z","timestamp":1772736708165,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":24,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,14]],"date-time":"2026-01-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1768348800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/pages\/standard-publication-reuse-rights"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the National Institutes of Health","award":["K23AA028297"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["K23AA028297"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000002","name":"National Institutes of Health","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000002","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,14]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Aims<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We aim to investigate alcohol consumption patterns before and after the pandemic onset and utilize liver fibrosis measurements to identify at-risk drinking patterns.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We selected 10 259 participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey across two cohorts: January 2017\u2013March 2020 (pre-pandemic) and August 2021\u2013August 2023 (during-pandemic). We employed the alcohol use questionnaire to identify drinking patterns, including heavy drinking and binge drinking frequencies. Vibration-controlled transient elastography was used to define stage 1 and significant liver fibrosis by liver stiffness measurement &amp;gt;7 to 9 and\u2009&amp;gt;\u20099\u00a0kPa, respectively. We first compared the prevalence and frequencies of binge drinking and single day heavy drinking between the two cohorts. We then calculated the odds of liver fibrosis among during-pandemic participants with various alcohol use patterns, compared to pre-pandemic participants with the same use patterns.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We found a higher prevalence of at-risk alcohol use in the during-pandemic cohort, including single-day heavy drinking and binge drinking at least once a month. Notably, the distributions of the frequency of single day heavy drinking and binge drinking were skewed towards a higher frequency of at-risk alcohol use in the during-pandemic group. Furthermore, the odds of significant liver fibrosis were higher among during-pandemic non-heavy\/binge drinkers and heavy\/binge drinkers, compared to their pre-pandemic counterparts.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The data showed increases in heavy drinking and binge drinking in the during-pandemic cohort, which calls for urgent public health interventions to mitigate future adverse health impacts.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1093\/alcalc\/agag011","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,13]],"date-time":"2026-02-13T12:45:24Z","timestamp":1770986724000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Increases in binge and heavy drinking frequencies during the COVID-19 pandemic are associated with liver fibrosis"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"61","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1581-2354","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Peng-sheng","family":"Ting","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Tulane University School of Medicine , 131 S. Robertson Street, New Orleans, LA 70112 ,","place":["United States"]},{"name":"Department of Hepatology, University Medical Center of New Orleans , 2000 Canal Street, New Orleans, LA 70112 ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Molly","family":"Delk","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Tulane University School of Medicine , 131 S. Robertson Street, New Orleans, LA 70112 ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Wei-Ting","family":"Lin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Social, Behavioral, and Population Sciences, Tulane University Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine , 1440 Canal Street, New Orleans, LA 70112 ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Hui-Yi","family":"Lin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Public Health, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center , 2020 Gravier Street, New Orleans, LA 70112 ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Tung-Sung","family":"Tseng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Public Health, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center , 2020 Gravier Street, New Orleans, LA 70112 ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9865-1009","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Po-Hung","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine , 1830 East Monument Street, 4th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21287 ,","place":["United States"]},{"name":"Division of Addiction Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine , 1830 East Monument Street, 4th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21287 ,","place":["United States"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"286","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026030512514382700_ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1097\/HC9.0000000000000806","article-title":"Changing landscape of steatotic liver diseases and liver fibrosis in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic","volume":"9","author":"Attia","year":"2025","journal-title":"Hepatol Commun"},{"key":"2026030512514382700_ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"139","DOI":"10.7326\/ANNALS-24-02157","article-title":"Trends in alcohol use after the COVID-19 pandemic: a National Cross-Sectional Study","volume":"178","author":"Ayyala-Somayajula","year":"2025","journal-title":"Ann Intern Med"},{"key":"2026030512514382700_ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"580","DOI":"10.1038\/bjc.2014.579","article-title":"Alcohol consumption and site-specific cancer risk: a comprehensive dose-response meta-analysis","volume":"112","author":"Bagnardi","year":"2015","journal-title":"Br J Cancer"},{"key":"2026030512514382700_ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"341","DOI":"10.1097\/ADM.0000000000000767","article-title":"Alcohol consumption in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States","volume":"15","author":"Barbosa","year":"2021","journal-title":"J Addict Med"},{"key":"2026030512514382700_ref5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"106879","DOI":"10.1016\/j.addbeh.2021.106879","article-title":"Binge drinking before and after a COVID-19 campus closure among first-year college students","volume":"118","author":"Bonar","year":"2021","journal-title":"Addict Behav"},{"key":"2026030512514382700_ref6","author":"Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Defining Adult Overweight and Obesity"},{"key":"2026030512514382700_ref7","author":"Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); 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