Gitau Kevin, Howe Holly S, Ginsberg Lydia, Perl Jeffrey, Ailon Jonathan
Division of General Internal Medicine, St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
Department of Marketing, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.
Kidney Med. 2022 Mar 18;4(5):100453. doi: 10.1016/j.xkme.2022.100453. eCollection 2022 May.
RATIONALE & OBJECTIVE: Cannabis use may be helpful for symptom management in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Knowledge, attitudes, and comfort with use of medical cannabis among kidney care providers may be limiting more widespread evaluation and use. We surveyed Canadian nephrologists regarding current prescribing habits, attitudes, and overall comfort level with cannabis products.
We carried out a nationwide, mail-in survey focused on capturing general and practice demographics, current cannabis prescribing status, and knowledge and attitudes regarding therapeutic cannabis use in patients with CKD.
SETTING & POPULATION: This survey was distributed to every registered nephrologist in Canada.
The results of this survey are reported descriptively.
Responses were received from 208 of 723 (29%) nephrologists. Only 21 (10.1%) respondents currently prescribe cannabis, with chronic pain syndromes being the most frequent reason for cannabis prescription (95.2%). Overall, 116 (55.5%) participants reported that changes in legality of cannabis did not influence their decision to prescribe cannabis. The majority of respondents (n = 123; 59%) indicated that they were uncomfortable with their knowledge of the medical cannabis literature. Most respondents (n=188; 91%) indicated that further studies exploring the efficacy and safety of cannabis would likely influence their prescribing habits.
Limitations of this study include possible nonresponse bias and a lack of specific data on practice considerations for specific subpopulations, such as transplant patients.
Only a small minority of Canadian nephrologists currently prescribe cannabis, with relatively little practice change after legalization. There is broad support amongst Canadian nephrologists for encouraging their patients to enroll in efficacy/safety studies of cannabis in the CKD population. Ultimately, given limited therapeutic options available for symptom control in CKD, this survey demonstrates the potential for nationwide practice change if cannabis efficacy and safety can be demonstrated in this population.
使用大麻可能有助于慢性肾脏病（CKD）患者的症状管理。肾脏护理提供者对医用大麻的了解、态度及使用意愿可能限制了其更广泛的评估和使用。我们就当前的处方习惯、态度以及对大麻产品的总体接受程度对加拿大肾脏病学家进行了调查。
我们开展了一项全国性的邮寄调查，重点是收集一般情况和执业人口统计学数据、当前大麻处方状况以及对CKD患者使用治疗性大麻的知识和态度。
该调查分发给了加拿大每一位注册肾脏病学家。
本次调查结果采用描述性报告。
723名肾脏病学家中有208名（29%）回复了问卷。目前只有2
