UK medical cannabis registry: A clinical outcome analysis of medical cannabis therapy in chronic pain patients with and without co‐morbid sleep impairment

Summary & key facts

This study followed 1,139 people with chronic pain who started prescribed medical cannabis in a UK registry. About 45% (517) had poor sleep at the start. Over 1, 3, 6 and 12 months, people with sleep problems reported significant improvements in pain, sleep, anxiety, and quality-of-life measures (p < 0.01). People without sleep problems also improved on most measures, but not on sleep scores and some EQ-5D-5L domains. The sleep-impaired group showed bigger drops in pain severity (p < 0.05) and larger gains in sleep score (p < 0.001) than the unimpaired group. There were 2,817 self-reported adverse events across both groups and no significant difference between groups (p = 0.197). Because thi

Key facts:

• Total sample: 1,139 chronic pain patients; 517 (45.4%) were classified as sleep impaired (SQS ≤3) and 622 (54.6%) as sleep unimpaired (SQS ≥4).
• The sleep-impaired cohort showed statistically significant improvement in all patient-reported outcome measures at each follow-up timepoint (p < 0.010).
• The sleep-unimpaired cohort showed significant improvements in most measures (p < 0.050), but did not show significant change in sleep quality (SQS) or in EQ-5D-5L self-care and anxiety/depression domains (p > 0.050).
• Compared with the unimpaired group, the sleep-impaired group had greater improvement in Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) pain severity (p < 0.050) and in sleep quality (SQS) (p < 0.001) at all follow-ups.
• A total of 2,817 adverse events were self-reported across both cohorts; the difference in adverse event reporting between cohorts was not statistically significant (p = 0.197).
• Multivariate logistic regression did not confirm that baseline sleep impairment was an independent predictor of greater pain improvement; the authors note this may be confounded by higher baseline pain severity.

Abstract

Whilst these results show promise for the effects of CBMPs on CP, they must be examined within the limitations of the study design. These findings provide further evidence to support the design of subsequent randomized controlled trials to verify causality between CBMPs and pain outcomes.

Topics

Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research Sleep and related disorders Sleep and Wakefulness Research

Categories

Health Sciences Medicine Pharmacology

Tags

Anxiety Brief Pain Inventory Chronic pain Cohort Cohort study Computer science Depression (economics) Economics Environmental health Internal medicine Macroeconomics McGill Pain Questionnaire Medicine Operating system Physical therapy Population Prospective cohort study Psychiatry Sleep (system call) Visual analogue scale

Substances

medical cannabis

Conditions & symptoms

Anxiety Chronic Pain Chronic pain