Tags: Medical Marijuana; Legalization; Physicians; Perception

 

Thumbnail: This survey was designed to understand patient use of medical cannabis and how patients perceived their physicians’ attitudes about their use.

Based on the results of the study, people are using cannabis to treat medical conditions, even if there is little evidence to support the efficacy of these treatments.

 

The problem: As cannabis becomes increasingly legalized, medical cannabis use is also increasing, often without a physician recommendation. Despite this, it is not clear for which medical conditions patients are using cannabis, and whether or not they are communicating with their physicians about this use.

 

The study: This study was based on a national online survey sent to 16,280 US adults (chosen by random sampling addresses covering 97% of the US population), of which 9,003 (55%) responded. The survey asked about the medical reasons people use cannabis, the forms that they used, what patients tell their physicians about their medical cannabis use, and whether patients believed their physicians to be supportive of their use.

 

Main Points:

• 7% of respondents reported using cannabis for medical purposes

• The most common medical reasons reported were anxiety (49% of those who reported using medical marijuana), insomnia (47%), chronic pain (42%) and depression (39%).

• The most common forms of cannabis used were smoking and edibles, followed by vaping, concentrate and topical forms.

• Women were more likely to use cannabis for posttraumatic stress disorder, sleep, anxiety and migraines, while men were more likely to use it for mood stabilization.

• There was no significant difference in use by race

• Of those who reported medical cannabis use, 21% did not have a doctor.Among those with doctors, 33% did not inform their doctor of their cannabis use

• Of those who did tell their doctor, 32% felt that their doctor was supportive of their use, 28% reported that their doctor was neutral, and 8% felt their doctor was not supportive

• Those who lived in states where medical cannabis is illegal were less likely to tell their doctor about their use of it.

 

Conclusions: Americans are using medical cannabis to treat a variety of medical conditions, even though there may not necessarily be evidence to support the efficacy of the treatment. Among those using cannabis for medical purposes, the majority informed their physicians and most felt that the doctor was neutral or supportive of their use.

 

Why this is a good study:

• This survey was sent to a large sample, thus responses can be considered a national representative of the US population 

• This study asks about patients’ perceptions of support from healthcare professionals, a perspective that has been overlooked in other studies

 

Why this isn’t a perfect study:

• The online format may have caused a selection bias, based on who chose to respond to the questions

• The physicians were not directly consulted, instead the participants were asked to report their of their doctor’s attitude.

• It is reasonable to expect that those who felt their physician would not be supportive of medical marijuana use would be less likely to disclose it, therefore this may not be an accurate reflection of how the patients perceive their physician’s level of support

 

What this study adds:

• This study, done in a large population, confirms previous findings from previous smaller studies regarding the common use of cannabis to treat chronic pain and mental health symptoms

• This study reports the medical reasons for cannabis use on a national scale, which is important when considering areas in which states agree or differ on approved indications

• This study reports that edibles and smoking are the most common forms of cannabis used for medical conditions- which is important when considering the secondary health concerns related to inhaling smoke and particulate matter

 

What it doesn’t:

• This study does not include the physician perspective on whether or not they actually support their patients use of medical cannabis

• This study does not tell us whether or not the patients (or physicians) believe the cannabis use is improving their medical condition; it only relies on reports of limited efficacy from previous studies

 

Funder:  This research was funded in part by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health; and in part by Dr. Keyhani’s (author) administrative funds, provided by the Veterans Health Research Institute.

 

Author conflicts:  None