At-risk Drinking Amongst Veterinary Professionals: A Systematic Literature Review with Narrative Synthesis of the Contributing Factors.

Research exploring veterinary alcohol use and the factors that contribute towards it is in its infancy, though the extant literature suggests veterinarians may drink at riskier levels than the general population (Bartram, Sinclair & Baldwin, 2009). This is likely associated with the high levels of poor mental health (Hatch et al., 2011) and work-related psychosocial stressors (e.g. time pressures; high workloads; long working hours) they experience (Bartram, Sinclair & Baldwin, 2009). Occupational distress has been shown to put other UK healthcare professionals at an elevated risk of substance use including harmful and hazardous drinking (Medisauskaite & Kamau, 2019), which is expected to be the case amongst veterinary professionals given the similarities in workplace stressors faced by both professions (Campbell et al., 2023). The World Health Organisation identifies risk factors for alcohol use disorder (AUD) at both individual (demographic, familial and socioeconomic components) and societal levels (culture, drinking context and alcohol availability) (WHO, 2026), though it is unknown how this relates to veterinary professionals’ drinking risk. The studies performed to date relevant to at-risk drinking amongst veterinary professionals and veterinary students are mostly cross-sectional in nature making the direction and size of influence of factors that contribute towards at-risk drinking unclear. Qualitative research has overtly focused more on experience and attitudes towards alcohol use and help-seeking in the profession rather than contributing factors A systematic literature review hopes to synthesis findings to provide a comprehensive overview of the extant research to understand the research question: which factors contribute towards at-risk drinking amongst veterinary professionals.