| Ware et al. (2005)58 |
Prevalence of medicinal cannabis users in the UK |
Retrospective nationwide survey |
2,969 participants |
|
-
- MMJ used for: chronic pain (25%); multiple sclerosis (22%); depression (22%); arthritis (26%); neuropathy (19%)
-
- Cannabis use associated with younger age, male gender, previous recreational use
-
- Frequency of cannabis use: daily (35%); 3–5 days/week (23%); 1–2 days/week (15%); less frequent (27%)
-
- Means of administration: smoking (82%); eating (43%); drinking tea (28%); other routes (15%)
-
- Symptoms improvement: improvement (68%); light improvement (27%); cannabis worked better than other medicine (45%); cannabis worked somewhat better (28%)
-
- Side effects of cannabis compared to other medications (6/872 worse; 23/872 somewhat worse; 4/782 about the same)
-
- Side effects of other medications compared to cannabis (30% worse; 34% much worse; 26% impossible to tell)
|
| Ste-Marie et al. (2016)55 |
Prevalence of marijuana users among rheumatology patients with confirmed diagnosis in Canada |
Exploratory study and cross-sectional survey with coded questionnaires: (1) diagnosis entered by physician; (2) marijuana use entered by patient |
MMJ non-users |
MMJ users |
-
- 4.3% were past MMJ users, of which 2.8% current users
-
- No difference in disease prevalence between groups
-
- MMJ users more likely to be on opioid treatment
-
- Current MMJ users were younger (52.8 vs. 62.8 years), unemployed or disabled (46.4% vs. 7.9%), and tended to be male
-
- MMJ users reported higher PtGA and pain scores than non-users (6.3% vs. 4.8%)
-
- >80% of MMJ users reported previous recreational marijuana use
-
- 80% of MMJ users were satisfied with the effects on pain relief, decreasing anxiety, nausea, and sleep improvement
-
- Physician-assessed PGA did not differ between MMJ users vs. non-users
-
- MMJ users had more severe disease than non-users, as measured by PGA and PtGA (patient-assessed) scores (≥6)
|
| Jennings et al. (2019)57 |
Change in self-reported marijuana use in patients after the legalization of cannabis |
Retrospective cohort study |
n=500 before legalization (patients who had undergone arthroplasty) |
n=500 after legalization (patients who had undergone arthroplasty) |
-
- Self-reported use increased from 1% to 11% after legalization
-
- Users after legalization: 46% recreational use, 26% medicinal use, 27% no reason, 2% recreational and medicinal use
-
- Users were younger (10-year difference between users and non-users), male sex (61%), current smokers (37%), substance abuse history (14%), low socioeconomic background
|
| Fitzcharles et al. (2020)60 |
Prevalence of marijuana users among rheumatology patients with confirmed diagnosis in Canada after marijuana legalization |
Observational study, two questionnaires: (1) filled by the physician concerning diagnosis, (2) filled by patient concerning marijuana use |
MMJ non-users |
MMJ users |
-
- <12.6% of rheumatology patients were current MMJ users
-
- 28.3% were users of recreational cannabis, with 4.9% current users (of these, 44.9% currently used MMJ)
-
- Current MMJ users were younger (61.2 vs. 64.9 years), unemployed or disabled (16.7% vs. 5.9%)
-
- >80% of MMJ users reported obtaining cannabis via a non-medicinal route (personal contact, store, black market)
-
- 69% of patients reported pain relief, 12% improved sleep, 15% improved fatigue, and 8% improved mood
-
- PGA and PtGA scores for symptom relief: 6.7±2.5
-
- Adverse effects reported by 61.5% (35% cognitive effects, including drowsiness, fatigue, and lack of motivation; 26% anxiety; 20% lack of motivation; 26% more than one side effect)
|
| Guillouard et al. (2021)59 |
Prevalence of cannabis use |
Meta-analysis |
n=18,127 non-users |
n=10,873 cannabis users |
Of 29,000 included participants, 40% had used cannabis, of which 15.3% were current users
Use of cannabis for:
-
- Fibromyalgia (68.2%)
-
- RA or lupus erythematosus (26%)
-
- Cannabis use associated with younger age, cigarette smokers, low socioeconomic background, higher pain intensity
-
- Cannabis reduced pain intensity from 8.2 to 5.6 (VAS)
-
- 20% of patients with rheumatoid diseases used cannabis and reported improvement in pain
|