Table 3.

Distribution of 6,003 Italians according to their gambling habit and according to a worsening in total gambling activity (i.e., start playing for non-players or increase playing for players) during COVID-19 lockdown, overall and by mental health indicators. Corresponding odds ratios° (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Italy, 2020

Characteristics before lockdown	Overall population			Gambling non-players before lockdown			Gambling players before lockdown
	N	Gambling before lockdown		N	Starting playing during lockdown		N	Increasing intensity of gambling during lockdown
		%	OR (95% CI)		%	OR (95% CI)		%	OR (95% CI)
Total	6,003	16.3		5,023	1.1		980	19.7
Psychotropic drugs
No	5,432	14.6	1.00^	4,641	1.0	1.00^	791	14.6	1.00^
Yes	571	33.2	3.12 (2.56–3.81)	381	2.7	3.33 (1.67–6.65)	189	41.2	3.93 (2.74–5.63)
Quality of life
High (score >5)	5,214	15.5	1.00^	4,406	1.1	1.00^	808	17.6	1.00^
Low (score ≤5)	789	21.9	1.61 (1.33–1.95)	616	0.9	0.85 (0.36–2.04)	172	29.7	1.97 (1.34–2.88)
Sleep quantity
High (≥7 h/night)	3,983	15.7	1.00^	3,358	1.0	1.00^	625	15.6	1.00^
Low (<7 h/night)	2020	17.6	1.12 (0.97–1.30)	1,664	1.4	1.54 (0.90–2.65)	356	27.0	2.00 (1.45–2.77)
Sleep quality
Good/Quite good	4,985	15.7	1.00^	4,202	1.2	1.00^	783	18.5	1.00^
Bad/Quite bad	1,018	19.4	1.32 (1.11–1.58)	821	0.9	0.80 (0.37–1.73)	198	24.4	1.36 (0.93–1.99)
Depressive symptoms (PHQ-2)
No (score <3)	5,143	15.2	1.00^	4,363	1.1	1.00^	780	15.5	1.00^
Yes (score ≥3)	860	23.3	1.82 (1.52–2.18)	660	1.4	1.37 (0.67–2.79)	201	35.9	3.06 (2.13–4.39)
Anxiety symptoms (GAD-2)
No (score <3)	4,915	14.9	1.00^	4,183	1.1	1.00^	731	14.8	1.00^
Yes (score ≥3)	1,088	22.9	1.87 (1.58–2.22)	839	1.3	1.21 (0.62–2.37)	249	34.0	2.93 (2.08–4.13)

°Estimated by unconditional multiple logistic regression models after adjustment for sex, age, education level and geographic area; estimates in bold are those statistically significant at 0.05 level.

^Reference category.