Older Adults' Use of Cannabis and Attitudes Around Disclosing Medical Cannabis Use to Their Healthcare Providers in California: A Mixed Methods Study.

Autor: Abu Baker D; Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California, La Jolla, CA, USA.; School of Social Sciences, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA., Cruz Rivera PN; School of Medicine, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR, USA., Narasimhan R; University of California San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, USA., Nguyen N; University of California San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, USA., Tibiriçá L; University of California San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, USA., Kepner WE; Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California, La Jolla, CA, USA.; School of Social Sciences, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA., O'Malley P; Tulane University School of Medicine, Louisiana, USA., Nguyen AL; Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California, La Jolla, CA, USA.; University of California San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, USA., Moore AA; University of California San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, USA. alm123@health.ucsd.edu.; Stein Institute for Research on Aging, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA. alm123@health.ucsd.edu.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Drugs - real world outcomes [Drugs Real World Outcomes] 2024 Dec; Vol. 11 (4), pp. 647-658. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Sep 19.
DOI: 10.1007/s40801-024-00451-0
Abstrakt: Background: The rapidly changing policy climate related to cannabis legalization has led to drastic changes in cannabis use in the United States (US). Medical cannabis use is increasing overall, but at a faster rate among older adults compared to other age groups.
Objective: The aim was to investigate older adults' cannabis use behaviors and attitudes around disclosing medical cannabis use to their primary healthcare providers (HCPs).
Methods: Nineteen older adults (ages 65+ years) with self-reported medical cannabis use were recruited from flyers posted in ambulatory clinics in San Diego, CA. Surveys and semi-structured interviews on cannabis use were completed. A multi-methods approach was used to analyze data.
Results: Participants' mean age was 75.3 years; 52.6% identified as women, and 89.5% as White. Cannabis was used by all participants to treat pain and by 75% for insomnia, with 25-33% reductions in use of prescription medications to treat these symptoms. Approximately 89% reported their primary HCPs were aware of their cannabis use, and 84.2% felt very comfortable/comfortable talking to HCPs about cannabis. Common themes from interviews included participants (1) being motivated to disclose cannabis use to their HCPs to seek medical advice on dosing, side effects, and benefits of cannabis, (2) feeling comfortable disclosing cannabis use as legalization has eased the stigma around cannabis use, and (3) perceiving mostly neutral attitudes from HCPs on their cannabis use.
Conclusion: The study emphasizes the pivotal role of HCPs as educators in addressing patient inquiries about cannabis, underlining the need for equipping healthcare professionals with evidence-based knowledge through education and training initiatives.
Competing Interests: Declarations. Funding: This research was supported by the National Institute on Aging (Grant 5T35AG026757), the National Institute of Mental Health (Grant 5T32MH019934), and the Sam and Rose Stein Institute for Research on Aging. Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest that might be relevant to the contents of this article. Ethics Approval: The study protocol was approved by the UC San Diego Health Institutional Review Board with application approval number Protocol #801087 on February 16th, 2022. The study was performed in accordance with the standards of ethics outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki. Consent to Participate: Written informed consent was obtained from all study participants before enrollment. Consent for Publication: Not applicable. Availability of Data and Material: The data that support the findings of this study are not openly available because of reasons of sensitivity and are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Authors’ Contributions: DAB, ALN, and AAM were involved in the conception and design of the study. DAB, PNCR, RN, NN, and PO'M contributed to patient recruitment and data acquisition. All authors were involved in the conduct of the study as well as the analysis and interpretation of the results. DAB wrote the first draft of the manuscript. All authors edited, reviewed, and approved the final version of the manuscript and share collective responsibility for the manuscript.
(© 2024. The Author(s).)
Databáze: MEDLINE
Externí odkaz: