Effect of COVID-19 Lockdown on Alcohol and Tobacco Use in Two Chilean Universities

Completed

• Conditions: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2 Infection
• Interventions: Behavioral: Lockdown and other social distancing measures

• Registration Number: NCT05069090
• Lead Sponsor: Universidad de La Frontera

Brief Summary

This is a longitudinal study of participants from two university communities in Chile. The primary objective is to examine the effect of a regional lockdown on alcohol and tobacco use, using a difference-in-difference analysis to obtain causal estimates of these COVID-19 policies.

Detailed Description

The COVID-19 pandemic is spreading worldwide. Countries have adopted public health and social measures that, together with a direct effect of the pandemic, can affect alcohol and tobacco use. The most stringent measures are lockdowns and curfews that include statutory restrictions on people's mobility. Research to date has shown mixed effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns on alcohol and tobacco use. Importantly, previous studies have not been able to differentiate the effects of the pandemic itself with those from lockdown and curfew policies. They have also been restricted to countries in Europe, the United States, Australia and New Zealand.

The study will advance prior knowledge by providing evidence from a country in Latin America, one of the worst-hit regions worldwide. Latin America accounts for 8.4% of the global population, but 20.3% of the total SARS-COV2 cases and 30.2% of the COVID-19 deaths to date. In addition, the study will exploit the variation in lockdown policies in two regions in Chile to disentangle the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic with those from a lockdown.

The aim of the study is to examine the effect of a regional lockdown on alcohol use in two university populations in the Araucanía and Coquimbo regions in Chile. The investigators will use a difference-in-difference analysis to obtain causal estimates of these COVID-19 policies.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2020-06-03
• Primary Completion: 2021-04-30
• Study Completion: 2021-04-30
• Status Verified: 2021-10
• Study First Submitted: 2021-10-05
• Study First Submitted QC: 2021-10-05
• Study First Posted: 2021-10-06
• Last Update Submitted: 2021-10-06
• Last Update Posted: 2021-10-14

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 1038

Inclusion Criteria

• People with study rights either at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels by July 27, 2020 at the Universidad de la Frontera or Universidad Católica del Norte; OR
• Workers with a full-time or part-time contract with either University, including academics, administrative and assistant personnel; AND
• Having an email registered in the Human Resource Office of each university

Exclusion Criteria

• People without valid study rights at either university
• People without a working contract with the university
• Not having an email registered at the Human Resource Office

Study & Design

• Study Type: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Design: Not specified

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Students and academics Universidad Católica del Norte	Lockdown and other social distancing measures	The intervention consists of social distancing measures to curb the viral transmission of SARS-CoV-2. The Coquimbo region was subject to lockdown in a different moment than the Araucanía region, creating exogenous variation.
Students and academics Universidad La Frontera	Lockdown and other social distancing measures	The intervention consists of social distancing measures to curb the viral transmission of SARS-CoV-2. The Araucanía region was subject to lockdown in a different moment than the Coquimbo region, creating exogenous variation.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Quantity of cigarettes per day	Last week	Average daily consumption of cigarettes during the last week
Frequency of heavy episodic drinking in the past month	Last 30 days	Frequency of consumption of five or more drinks on a single occasion during the past 30 days \[response range 0 to 10 and more times\]
Weekly grams of alcohol use	Last week	Consumption of alcohol during the past week measured in grams of pure alcohol

Trial Locations

Locations (2)

Universidad de la Frontera; 🇨🇱 Temuco, Araucanía, Chile

Universidad Católica del Norte; 🇨🇱 Coquimbo, Chile