Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, Canada.
Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada.
Int J Drug Policy. 2023 Jul;117:104076. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2023.104076. Epub 2023 May 27.
Many individuals who use cannabis report doing so for medicinal reasons. Few studies have explored heterogeneity within this population, which may be important to inform targeted interventions. This study used latent class analysis to identify subgroups of people who use cannabis for medicinal reasons and their sociodemographic and cannabis-risk-related correlates.
Data were drawn from the 2019 Canadian Alcohol and Drugs Survey, which is a representative survey of Canadians ages 15 years and older. Data from 814 individuals reporting past-year use of cannabis for medicinal or mixed medicinal and non-medicinal reasons were included. Latent class analysis was conducted with forms of cannabis used, cannabis use frequency, concurrent non-medicinal cannabis use, and the medical conditions and symptoms cannabis was used to manage as indicators.
Four distinct latent classes of medicinal cannabis use were identified: a non-daily cannabis flower for mental health and sleep class (39.56% of the sample), a non-daily cannabis flower for pain class (26.41% of the sample), a non-daily cannabis oil for physical health class (20.15% of the sample), and a daily multi-form cannabis for mental health and non-medical reasons class (13.88% of the sample). Sociodemographic factors and risk level for cannabis-related harms were associated with latent class membership.
Results of this study reveal considerable heterogeneity among people reporting medicinal cannabis use and suggest that the distinct patterns of cannabis use behaviors and motives observed may be important for understanding risk for cannabis-related harms in this population. Findings underscore a need for harm reduction interventions tailored toward specific patterns of medicinal cannabis use.
许多使用大麻的人报告说他们这样做是出于医疗原因。很少有研究探索这个人群内的异质性，而这对于提供有针对性的干预措施可能很重要。本研究使用潜在类别分析来确定出于医疗原因使用大麻的人群亚组及其与社会人口统计学和大麻风险相关的特征。
数据来自 2019 年加拿大酒精和毒品调查，这是一项针对 15 岁及以上加拿大人群的代表性调查。该研究纳入了 814 名报告过去一年出于医疗或混合医疗和非医疗原因使用大麻的个体。使用大麻的形式、大麻使用频率、同时使用非医疗用大麻、以及大麻用于治疗的医疗状况和症状作为指标进行潜在类别分析。
确定了四种不同的医用大麻使用潜在类别：用于心理健康和睡眠的非日常大麻花类别（占样本的 39.56%）、用于疼痛的非日常大麻花类别（占样本的 26.41%）、用于身体健康的非日常大麻油类别（占样本的 20.15%）和用于心理健康和非医疗原因的日常多剂型大麻类别（占样本的 13.88%）。社会人口统计学因素和与大麻相关危害的风险水平与潜在类别成员身份相关。
本研究结果揭示了报告医用大麻使用者之间存在相当大的异质性，并表明观察到的不同大麻使用行为和动机模式可能对于理解该人群中与大麻相关危害的风险很重要。研究结果强调需要针对特定的医用大麻使用模式制定减少危害的干预措施。
