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Patients With Rheumatic Disorders Report Increased Cannabis Use
Researchers reported the use of cannabis as pain management significantly increased between 2014 and 2019 among participants in FORWARD, The National Databank for Rheumatic Diseases.
“Despite advances in treatments and outcomes among patients with rheumatic diseases, there is an unmet need in pain management,” the authors stated. “Cannabis has emerged as a potential opioid-sparing alternative, with arthritic pain as a commonly cited reason for medicinal cannabis use. However, little is known, and we set out to understand patterns of cannabis use in a US-wide rheumatic disease population.”
Researchers collected data on 11,006 participants’ past and present cannabis use to compare clinical characteristics, including patient-reported outcomes (PROs), demographics, medications, comorbidities, and diagnosis, between noncannabis users and cannabis users with logistic regression, geographic assessment, t-tests, and Chi-square tests.
“Cannabis use increased from 6.3% in 2014 to 18.4% in 2019, with the greatest prevalence of use in states where cannabis use is legal. Most users (74% in 2014; 62% in 2019) reported that cannabis was effective for relief of arthritis symptoms. Cannabis users were more likely to be taking weak opioids and to have a history of smoking tobacco, and had worse measures on all assessed PROs,” the authors concluded.
However, “characteristics of users suggest that those who try cannabis are feeling worse, and their pain management needs may not be adequately addressed by other therapies. The association between cannabis, opioids, and PROs highlight areas for future work,” the authors wrote.
—Angelique Platas
Reference:
Wipfler K, Simon TA, Katz P, Wolfe F, Michaud K. Increase in cannabis use among adults with rheumatic diseases: results from a 2014-2019 US observational study. Arthritis Care Res. Published online July 15, 2021.
