Heavy alcohol use is associated with missing work, but the scope of that relationship has not been well understood. Now, based on survey data from more than 110,000 U.S. adults with full-time jobs, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have quantified the extent of the problem.
Among U.S. adults working full time, an estimated 9% — almost 11 million full-time workers — met the diagnostic criteria for alcohol use disorder, a medical condition characterized by an impaired ability to stop or control alcohol use despite adverse consequences in one’s social life, work life or health.
The findings are published online March 17 in the journal JAMA Network Open.
Analyzing the survey data, the researchers found that people with severe alcohol use disorder reported missing 32 days of work each year because of illness, injury or simply skipping work, more than double the number of workdays missed by individuals without alcohol use disorder. In all, workers with alcohol use disorder missed more than 232 million work days annually.
“Alcohol use disorder is a major problem in the United States and a big problem in many workplaces, where it contributes to a significant number of workdays missed,” said senior investigator Laura J. Bierut, MD, the Alumni Endowed Professor of Psychiatry. “The problem likely has worsened during the pandemic, and we need to try to do more to ensure that people can get the help they need to deal with alcohol use disorder. The new data also point to an economic incentive for employers and policymakers to address the issue.”