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Towards a comprehensive understanding of medical conditions among medical cannabis patients in a large database: A descriptive analysis
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1
Health Economics and Outcomes Research Division, Leafwell, Miami,
Florida, USA
2
Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, USA
3
Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research, University of San Diego, San
Diego, California, USA
Submission date: 2024-06-18
Final revision date: 2024-08-23
Acceptance date: 2024-09-25
Publication date: 2024-09-30
Corresponding author
Mitchell L. Doucette
Health Economics and Outcomes Research Division,
Leafwell, 9100 South Dadeland Boulevard, Suite 1701, Miami, FL
33156, USA
Popul. Med. 2024;6(September):26
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Introduction:
Cannabis use for medical purposes has surged
in the past decade. However, understanding who medical
cannabis patients are and their accompanying health issues
remains limited.
Methods:
Utilizing Leafwell patient database (LPD) data
from 2022, we describe the demographics and top 15
primary qualifying conditions (PQCs) of medical cannabis
patients across 32 states of the United States. We employed
descriptive statistics and χ2 tests to discern differences in
PQCs across age, sex, and race/ethnicity. We describe the
self-reported rank-order (1–5) of co-occurring conditions.
Results:
In 2022, there were 81433 new medical cannabis
patients registered in the LPD, 93.2% of whom (n=75904)
reported a list of the top 15 PQCs. Leading PQCs were chronic
pain (n=24340), anxiety (n=20370), and post-traumatic
stress disorder (PTSD) (n=8517). The top 15 conditions
varied across all demographics (p<0.001). Notably, a lower
percentage of Hispanics reported chronic pain as their PQC
compared to other race/ethnicities; a higher percentage
of those aged <21 years reported insomnia as their PQC
compared to older age groups. Anxiety and chronic pain
were either the first or second PQC or rank-order second
condition. Insomnia was a more common rank-order
third condition (n=3597) and rank-order fourth condition
(n=1796). PTSD was the leading rank-order fifth condition
(n=784).
Conclusions:
This study underscores demographic
differences across PQCs among a large sample of medical
cannabis patients representing data from 36 states of the
US. We note patients often report more than one medical
condition, suggesting that the reasons for using medical
cannabis may be more complex medically than previously
understood.
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
The authors have each completed and submitted an ICMJE form for
Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest. The authors declare that they
have no competing interests, financial or otherwise, related to the current
work. Authors MLD, DH, EF and DLM are employees of Leafwell and hold
stock or stock options in Leafwell. Leafwell is a Telehealth company that
connects potential medical cannabis patients to physicians in a friendly
PC model. Leafwell does not produce or sell cannabis products.
FUNDING
There was no source of funding for this research. Author DJC was a paid
research consultant for Leafwell.
ETHICAL APPROVAL AND INFORMED CONSENT
The project received ethics exempt status from an external, third-party
Institutional Review Board, BRANY (IRB Number: IRB00000080; Date:
23 October 2023).). Patients provided informed consent.
DATA AVAILABILITY
The data supporting this research cannot be made available for privacy
or other reasons.
AUTHORS' CONTRIBUTIONS
MLD, DJC and DH: conceived the study. All authors: contributed equally
to the writing, reviewing and editing of the manuscript, and read and
approved the final version of the manuscript.
PROVENANCE AND PEER REVIEW
Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
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