A study published in the Journal of Cannabis Research examined short-term changes in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of medical cannabis patients over the first three months of medical cannabis consumption.
The prospective, observational, longitudinal study documented the experiences of adults who recently received a physician’s medical cannabis recommendation. The participants had one of the qualifying medical conditions approved by Pennsylvania cannabis law. The researchers collected data on their clinical status and demographic information. The study included 438 participants. The participants were primarily white and female (66.4%). The participants reflected a median age of 46.4 years. The most common conditions for physician-approved medical cannabis use included treatment of anxiety disorders (61.9%) and chronic or intractable pain (53.6%). The participants completed semi-structured interviews before medical cannabis consumption to establish a baseline. The participants engaged in interviews and assessments again at three months. This study included the baseline reports and three-month data sets. In addition, the research team also evaluated the participants at six, nine, and 12 months and analyzed this data in a separate study of long-term effects.
The study showed that participants experienced short-term gains from medical cannabis consumption. Data analysis showed improvements in all domains of HRQoL from baseline to three months after starting medical cannabis use. These benefits included improved physical functioning and decreased role limitations associated with physical health conditions. Participants reported a 20% increase in social functioning, a 20% improvement in pain levels, and a 15% in emotional well-being. Many participants also claimed they experienced better mental wellness and less physical pain and fatigue.
One finding indicated that age was a negative predictor of improvement levels over time for domains of pain, role limitations due to physical health problems, physical functioning, and pain after controlling for baseline. Older participants reported less improvement compared to younger participants.
The researchers highlight the importance of further research to assess the benefits of medical cannabis consumption for different ages, genders, and health conditions.
Sources: Journal of Cannabis Research, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine