Cannabis Clinical Research Institute, Soroka University Medical Center, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be'er-Sheva, Israel.
Cannabis Clinical Research Institute, Soroka University Medical Center, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be'er-Sheva, Israel; Research Department, Tikun Olam LTD, Israel.
Eur J Intern Med. 2018 Mar;49:44-50. doi: 10.1016/j.ejim.2018.01.019.
There is a substantial growth in the use of medical cannabis in recent years and with the aging of the population, medical cannabis is increasingly used by the elderly. We aimed to assess the characteristics of elderly people using medical cannabis and to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the treatment.
A prospective study that included all patients above 65 years of age who received medical cannabis from January 2015 to October 2017 in a specialized medical cannabis clinic and were willing to answer the initial questionnaire. Outcomes were pain intensity, quality of life and adverse events at six months.
During the study period, 2736 patients above 65 years of age began cannabis treatment and answered the initial questionnaire. The mean age was 74.5 ± 7.5 years. The most common indications for cannabis treatment were pain (66.6%) and cancer (60.8%). After six months of treatment, 93.7% of the respondents reported improvement in their condition and the reported pain level was reduced from a median of 8 on a scale of 0-10 to a median of 4. Most common adverse events were: dizziness (9.7%) and dry mouth (7.1%). After six months, 18.1% stopped using opioid analgesics or reduced their dose.
Our study finds that the therapeutic use of cannabis is safe and efficacious in the elderly population. Cannabis use may decrease the use of other prescription medicines, including opioids. Gathering more evidence-based data, including data from double-blind randomized-controlled trials, in this special population is imperative.
近年来，医用大麻的使用量大幅增长，随着人口老龄化，老年人越来越多地使用医用大麻。我们旨在评估使用医用大麻的老年人的特征，并评估治疗的安全性和疗效。
这是一项前瞻性研究，纳入了 2015 年 1 月至 2017 年 10 月期间在一家专门的医用大麻诊所接受医用大麻治疗且愿意回答初始问卷的所有 65 岁以上患者。结果为 6 个月时的疼痛强度、生活质量和不良事件。
在研究期间，2736 名 65 岁以上的患者开始接受大麻治疗并回答了初始问卷。平均年龄为 74.5±7.5 岁。大麻治疗最常见的适应证是疼痛（66.6%）和癌症（60.8%）。治疗 6 个月后，93.7%的受访者报告病情改善，报告的疼痛程度从 0-10 分的中位数 8 分降至中位数 4 分。最常见的不良事件是：头晕（9.7%）和口干（7.1%）。治疗 6 个月后，18.1%的患者停止使用阿片类镇痛药或减少剂量。
我们的研究发现，大麻在老年人群中的治疗应用是安全有效的。大麻的使用可能会减少其他处方药的使用，包括阿片类药物。在这一特殊人群中，迫切需要收集更多基于证据的数据，包括双盲随机对照试验的数据。
