A scoping review of health inequities in alcohol use disorder

ABSTRACT

Background: Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) poses a significant health burden on individuals. The burden occurs more frequently in the medically underserved, as well as racial and sexual minority populations. Ameliorating health inequities is vital to improving patient-centered care.

Objectives: The objective of this scoping review is to chart the existing evidence on health inequities related to AUD and identify existing knowledge gaps to guide future equity-centered research.

Methods: We performed a literature search using the Ovid (Embase) and MEDLINE (PubMed) databases for articles on AUD that were published in the 5-year period spanning from 2017 to 2021 and written in English. The frequencies of each health inequity examined were analyzed, and findings from each included study were summarized.

Results: Our sample consisted of 55 studies for analysis. The most common inequity examined was by race/ethnicity followed by sex or gender. The least reported inequities examined were rural under-resourced areas and occupational status. Our findings indicate that significant research gaps exist in education, rural under-resourced populations, and LGBTQ+ communities with AUD.

Conclusions: This scoping review highlights the gaps in research on inequities in AUD. To bridge the current gaps, we recommend research on the following: 1) triage screening tools and the use of telemedicine for rural, under-resourced populations; 2) interventions to increase treatment engagement and retention for women; and 3) community-based participatory methodologies for the LGBTQ+ communities.

KEYWORDS:

• AUD
• alcohol use disorder
• scoping review

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the National Institutes of Health under the award number [T35AA028204].