TY - JOUR
T1 - Perceived Efficacy of Medical Cannabis in the Treatment of Co-Occurring Health-Related Quality of Life Symptoms
AU - Bruce, Douglas
AU - Foster, Elissa
AU - Shattell, Mona
N1 - Funding Information:
Support for this study was provided through the Provost’s Collaborative Research Fellowship, DePaul University. Our deep gratitude goes to our research participants whose thoughtful input made this study possible.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - For persons living with chronic conditions, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) symptoms, such as pain, anxiety, depression, and insomnia, often interact and mutually reinforce one another. There is evidence that medical cannabis (MC) may be efficacious in ameliorating such symptoms and improving HRQoL. As many of these HRQoL symptoms may mutually reinforce one another, we conducted an exploratory study to investigate how MC users perceive the efficacy of MC in addressing co-occurring HRQoL symptoms. We conducted a cross-sectional online survey of persons with a state medical marijuana card in Illinois (N = 367) recruited from licensed MC dispensaries across the state. We conducted tests of ANOVA to measure how perceived MC efficacy for each HRQoL symptom varied by total number of treated symptoms reported by participants. Pain was the most frequently reported HRQoL treated by MC, followed by anxiety, insomnia, and depression. A large majority of our sample (75%) reported treating two or more HRQoL symptoms. In general, perceived efficacy of MC in relieving each HRQoL symptom category increased with the number of co-occurring symptoms also treated with MC. Perceived efficacy of MC in relieving pain, anxiety, and depression varied significantly by number of total symptoms experienced. This exploratory study contributes to our understanding of how persons living with chronic conditions perceive the efficacy of MC in treating co-occurring HRQoL symptoms. Our results suggest that co-occurring pain, anxiety, and depression may be particularly amenable to treatment with MC.
AB - For persons living with chronic conditions, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) symptoms, such as pain, anxiety, depression, and insomnia, often interact and mutually reinforce one another. There is evidence that medical cannabis (MC) may be efficacious in ameliorating such symptoms and improving HRQoL. As many of these HRQoL symptoms may mutually reinforce one another, we conducted an exploratory study to investigate how MC users perceive the efficacy of MC in addressing co-occurring HRQoL symptoms. We conducted a cross-sectional online survey of persons with a state medical marijuana card in Illinois (N = 367) recruited from licensed MC dispensaries across the state. We conducted tests of ANOVA to measure how perceived MC efficacy for each HRQoL symptom varied by total number of treated symptoms reported by participants. Pain was the most frequently reported HRQoL treated by MC, followed by anxiety, insomnia, and depression. A large majority of our sample (75%) reported treating two or more HRQoL symptoms. In general, perceived efficacy of MC in relieving each HRQoL symptom category increased with the number of co-occurring symptoms also treated with MC. Perceived efficacy of MC in relieving pain, anxiety, and depression varied significantly by number of total symptoms experienced. This exploratory study contributes to our understanding of how persons living with chronic conditions perceive the efficacy of MC in treating co-occurring HRQoL symptoms. Our results suggest that co-occurring pain, anxiety, and depression may be particularly amenable to treatment with MC.
KW - Anxiety
KW - HRQoL
KW - comorbidity
KW - depression
KW - medical cannabis
KW - pain
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85074823313&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85074823313&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/08964289.2019.1683712
DO - 10.1080/08964289.2019.1683712
M3 - Article
C2 - 31693457
AN - SCOPUS:85074823313
SN - 0896-4289
VL - 47
SP - 170
EP - 174
JO - Behavioral Medicine
JF - Behavioral Medicine
IS - 2
ER -