Until recently, however, there has not been much hard info FPs can rely on to gauge how a lot of their patients may use marijuana either with or without a prescription.
The poll found that adults who have recorded medical conditions are a lot more likely to use marijuana than people who don’t. Additionally, it discovered more than one in nine young adults using a registered medical condition reported using marijuana on a daily basis.
“Generally speaking, there’s a paucity of high quality research on the possible applications, benefits or adverse health consequences of marijuana,” stated Beth Anne Fox, M.D., M.P.H., of Kingsport, Tenn., a member of the AAFP’s Commission of the Health of the general public and Science who headed the growth of the Academy’s newly published place paper on marijuana and cannabinoids. “More rigorous analysis is required since the usage of marijuana and cannabinoids increases to understand the short- and – long-term consequences of its usage so as to better educate patients on its effect on their wellbeing.”
Research Procedures and Questions
The research authors combined data in the 2016 and 2017 surveys, leading to a sample of 169,036 adults.
In both polls, participants were asked the number of times they used marijuana in the previous 30 days. Individuals who used marijuana on a couple of times were classified as present marijuana users; people who employed it on 20 or more times were categorized as everyday marijuana users.
Participants were asked if they had ever been advised by a healthcare professional they had some of these health conditions: stroke, heart attack, angina or coronary heart disease, asthma, COPD, diabetes, arthritis, and kidney disorder, depressive disease, skin cancer, and other kinds of cancer.
From the 2017 BRFSS, participants had been asked about the motives for their marijuana use. In particular, the poll asked if participants used marijuana to treat or reduce the signs of a health condition or for enjoyment or gratification.
Marijuana Use from the Amounts
In most age groups except those 65 and older, adults who reported medical conditions had a greater incidence of daily and current marijuana usage than people without medical ailments.
In adults with medical conditions, both present and daily marijuana use were greatest in these ages 18-24. More than 25 percent of people in this age category were classified as present marijuana users, and over 11 percent were categorized as everyday users.
Current marijuana use also varied by individual age and kind of health condition. In adults 18-34 with at least one health illness, incidence of marijuana usage was greatest in people with COPD; in adults 35-54, incidence was highest in people with kidney disease; and in adults 55 and older, incidence was highest in people with depression.
In terms of respondents’ motives for using the medication, 35.1percent of current marijuana users reported using marijuana for medical reasons, 45.6percent stated that they used it for nonmedical reasons, and 19.3percent stated they used it for both reasons.
These amounts varied marginally compared to current marijuana customers with medical ailments. Adults in this category were more than two times as likely — 45.5% vs. 21.8percent — as people without medical circumstances to report using marijuana for medical reasons.
Writer Opinions
The study authors concluded that since marijuana use has been seen within an increasingly favorable light, and since the prevalence of health conditions increases with age, marijuana use could increase considerably among elderly adults moving forward. Therefore, they stated,”constant surveillance of marijuana usage across all age groups is justified.”
The authors also called for policymakers to carefully track medical asserts and perceived advantages related to marijuana use to make sure that patients fully understand that the medication’s effects on their health.
FP Pro Perspective
Fox cautioned against FPs reading too much into the findings since the survey data had been gathered only from select countries and territories, and countries were permitted to choose what questions to include. Yet, she stated, the outcomes”could be surprising to some doctors,” especially concerning the use of marijuana by people that have medical problems.
“Family doctors might be interested in reviewing the data to have an estimate of the amount of patients found that could use marijuana and for what functions, in addition to assessing potential effect of usage on chronic health conditions,” Fox told AAFP News.
“I have patients that discuss this advice as a portion of overall preventative health experiences, in addition to during collection of previous medical, family and social history for severe and chronic disease control in a trusting, collaborative patient-physician connection,” she explained. “In my own experience and practice, it’s by far the most common material of abuse.”
Since FPs see individuals from nearly every demographic category, Fox believes they’re ideally positioned to advise patients on marijuana usage.
“Family doctors are instrumental in the identification, prevention and treatment of chemical use, such as the ailments impacted or brought on by using marijuana and cannabinoid goods,” Fox explained.
“Family doctors should examine the improper use of cannabis products; their protected storage to prevent vulnerability to children and teens; both the developmental and unwanted effects of marijuana and cannabinoid use by at-risk inhabitants, like women who might become pregnant or are pregnant, children and teens; and the effects of impaired driving and marijuana intoxication,” she added.