A Secondary Analysis of Sociodemographic, Program Level, and Clinical Characteristics of Driving Under the Influence Treatment Enrollees Prior to, During, and After the COVID-19 Lockdown

The impact of COVID-19 on Driving Under the Influence (DUI) treatment is unknown. This study examined changes in the number of DUI program enrollments and enrollees’ characteristics by COVID stage. We conducted secondary analyses of routine data collected from a sample of 3309 consecutive clients enrolling in a large DUI treatment program Pre-COVID-19, Early-COVID-19 during lockdown, and Late-COVID-19 after lockdown lifted. Enrollments declined in Early-COVID (n = 643) compared to Pre-COVID (n = 1416), but rebounded in Late-COVID (n = 1250). Early-COVID enrollees tended to be unemployed, first conviction offenders, and have only minimal depression, non-hazardous alcohol use, lower alcohol levels at arrest, and lower drug use compared to their Pre-COVID counterparts. Compared to Pre-COVID, Late-COVID was generally characterized by the same characteristics as Early-COVID, as well as greater numbers of Latinos. Findings demonstrate extraordinary enrollment reductions and changes in sociodemographic and clinical features among DUI treatment enrollees during stages of COVID-19.