Study Shows 232 Million Missed Work Days Due to Alcohol Use Disorder

Sarasota, FL (WorkersCompensation.com) – According to a definition from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, binge drinking is the consumption of large amounts of alcohol over a period of 2 hours or less that results in a blood alcohol rate of .08 or higher.

As high as 1 in 4 adults reported binge drinking, and 1 in 16 reported drinking heavily in 2019. That same year, 9.3 percent of adults aged 18 to 25, and 5.1 percent of adults over the age of 26 reported having an alcohol addiction. Some analyses show that the highest percentage of heavy alcohol use occurs in the construction and mining industries, and workers in the accommodations and food industry have the highest rates of substance abuse disorder.

It is estimated that as high as 95,000 deaths occur each year from alcohol abuse. In addition to the devastating societal impacts, alcohol abuse costs around $249 billion annually. While there are plenty of studies that have indicated a link between alcohol use and absenteeism as well as work place accidents, there are few studies that examined the results against clinical criteria for alcohol use disorder (AUD) and direct impact on total days.

Researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis set out to determine the impact of AUD on absenteeism in the workplace. The researchers reviewed data from the 2015-2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) across a sampling of over 110,000 full time workers in the U.S. They asked the questions, what is the prevalence of AUD in the full time workforce in the last 12 months, what is the level of absenteeism among those workers, and what is the association between AUD and the absenteeism? The results of the study were published earlier this month in JAMA Network Open.

Mild, moderate, and severe AUD diagnoses were determined using questions from the NSDUH and criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Some of the questions used included the volume of alcohol ingested, the persistence of cravings or unsuccessful efforts to avoid drinking, ability to function, use during hazardous activities, and overall tolerance levels.

Around 9.3 percent of full time workers met the clinical criteria for AUD, which is estimated to equate to 11 million full time workers. Additionally, those with AUD accounted for 14.1 percent of total workplace absenteeism, contributing to over 232 million missed workdays a year. Additionally, researchers noted that AUD was more common in younger workers, men, lower income workers, and Hispanic ethnicity.

Given that sales for alcohol increased 20 percent during the pandemic, the researchers noted that with more workers working from home, it may be harder for employers to spot excessive absenteeism, which can potentially be a sign of AUD.

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