Background/Purpose: Interest in using cannabis for the management of pain and associated symptoms of rheumatic diseases is rapidly rising in young adults. This, in turn, has heightened the pressure on healthcare providers and scientists to provide evidence-based answers on the role of cannabis in rheumatic diseases in a timely manner. To establish a foundation for care, we aim to contextualize the demand for cannabis. In this study, we assess the health profiles and cannabis use patterns among young and middle-aged (18-45) adult rheumatology patients in Alberta, Canada.

Methods: Adults in Alberta were contacted for recruitment through Alberta Health Services, the sole provincial-level administrative health authority, if they had one or more diagnostic code for rheumatologic conditions and had at least one billing code related to health system use in the past year. Data were collected between March and November 2022 from participants using an online survey designed to capture a broad range of sociodemographic, lifetime cannabis use, and health factors. Descriptive statistics were used to explore the health and cannabis use characteristics of survey respondents. Bivariate methods were used to investigate potential differences in self-rated pain and wellbeing scores, as well as reasons for using cannabis, between cannabis use groups.

Results: Our sample included 193 respondents between the ages of 18 and 45 (mean age=36.1, SD=6.5) and consisted of largely of Caucasian (80.3%, n=155) female (60.0%, n=108) respondents. Majority of respondents had used cannabis, with 94 (48.7%) current users, 59 (38.6%) past users, and 40 (20.7%) never users. The most prevalent rheumatologic conditions reported were rheumatoid arthritis (16.6%, n=32), osteoarthritis (15.5%, n=30), and fibromyalgia (7.8%, n=15) with 27 (14.0%) respondents having reported two or more rheumatologic conditions. A 101 (52.3%) and 111 (57.5%) respondents reported experiencing mental and physical comorbidities, respectively. When comparing self-rated health profiles, the proportion of respondents with high pain scores (47.0% vs. 23.1%, p=0.007) and low wellbeing scores (55.0% vs. 27.0%) were significantly higher for cannabis users (current and past users) compared to never users. Among cannabis users (n=153), the proportion of respondents with high pain scores (53.2% vs. 36.7%, p=0.047) was significantly higher among current users versus past users, with no significant difference in low wellbeing scores between groups (58.1% vs. 50.0%, p=0.338). A higher proportion of current-cannabis users report using cannabis to address rheumatologic pain (54.3% vs. 30.5%, p=0.004) and stress (64.9% vs. 17.0%) compared to past users.

Conclusion: Young adult and middle-aged rheumatology patients experiencing high pain and poor well-being might be more likely to use cannabis, with pain and stress management being common reasons for current use. Further work is needed to determine if cannabis use relates to changes in pain and well-being over time.

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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/exploring-the-health-and-cannabis-use-among-young-and-middle-aged-adults-with-rheumatologic-conditions-in-alberta-canada/