A national study of clinical discussions about cannabis use among Veteran patients prescribed opioids
Abstract Background The Veterans Health Administration tracks urine drug tests (UDTs) among patients on long-term opioid therapy (LTOT) and recommends discussing the health effects of cannabis use. Objective To determine the occurrence of cannabis-related discussions between providers and patients o...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2024-03-01
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| Series: | Journal of Cannabis Research |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s42238-024-00221-3 |
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| author | Tauheed Zaman Dawn M. Bravata Amy Byers Erin Krebs Samuel Leonard Charles Austin Friedhelm Sandbrink Deborah S. Hasin Salomeh Keyhani |
| author_facet | Tauheed Zaman Dawn M. Bravata Amy Byers Erin Krebs Samuel Leonard Charles Austin Friedhelm Sandbrink Deborah S. Hasin Salomeh Keyhani |
| author_sort | Tauheed Zaman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background The Veterans Health Administration tracks urine drug tests (UDTs) among patients on long-term opioid therapy (LTOT) and recommends discussing the health effects of cannabis use. Objective To determine the occurrence of cannabis-related discussions between providers and patients on LTOT during six months following UDT positive for cannabis, and examine factors associated with documenting cannabis use. Design We identified patients prescribed LTOT with a UDT positive for cannabis in 2019. We developed a text-processing tool to extract discussions around cannabis use from their charts. Subjects Twelve thousand seventy patients were included. Chart review was conducted on a random sample of 1,946 patients. Main measures The presence of a cannabis term in the chart suggesting documented cannabis use or cannabis-related discussions. Content of those discussions was extracted in a subset of patients. Logistic regression was used to examine the association between patient factors, including state of residence legal status, with documentation of cannabis use. Key Results Among the 12,070 patients, 65.8% (N = 7,948) had a cannabis term, whereas 34.1% (N = 4,122) of patients lacked a cannabis term, suggesting that no documentation of cannabis use or discussion between provider and patient took place. Among the subset of patients who had a discussion documented, 47% related to cannabis use for medical reasons, 35% related to a discussion of VA policy or legal issues, and 17% related to a discussion specific to medical risks or harm reduction strategies. In adjusted analyses, residents of states with legalized recreational cannabis were less likely to have any cannabis-related discussion compared to patients in non-legal states [OR 0.73, 95% CI 0.64–0.82]. Conclusions One-third of LTOT patients did not have documentation of cannabis use in the chart in the 6 months following a positive UDT for cannabis. Discussions related to the medical risks of cannabis use or harm reduction strategies were uncommon. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-bbd624605e3d4cdc813c76936a28da18 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2522-5782 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-03-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Cannabis Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-bbd624605e3d4cdc813c76936a28da182025-01-12T12:38:14ZengBMCJournal of Cannabis Research2522-57822024-03-016111110.1186/s42238-024-00221-3A national study of clinical discussions about cannabis use among Veteran patients prescribed opioidsTauheed Zaman0Dawn M. Bravata1Amy Byers2Erin Krebs3Samuel Leonard4Charles Austin5Friedhelm Sandbrink6Deborah S. Hasin7Salomeh Keyhani8Addiction Recovery and Treatments Services, San Francisco VA Health Care SystemRichard L. Roudebush VA Medical CenterDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of CaliforniaCenter for Care Delivery and Outcomes Research, Minneapolis VA Health Care SystemMedical Service, San Francisco VA Health Care SystemRichard L. Roudebush VA Medical CenterNational Pain Management, Opioid Safety and Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, Veterans Health AdministrationNew York State Psychiatric InstituteMedical Service, San Francisco VA Health Care SystemAbstract Background The Veterans Health Administration tracks urine drug tests (UDTs) among patients on long-term opioid therapy (LTOT) and recommends discussing the health effects of cannabis use. Objective To determine the occurrence of cannabis-related discussions between providers and patients on LTOT during six months following UDT positive for cannabis, and examine factors associated with documenting cannabis use. Design We identified patients prescribed LTOT with a UDT positive for cannabis in 2019. We developed a text-processing tool to extract discussions around cannabis use from their charts. Subjects Twelve thousand seventy patients were included. Chart review was conducted on a random sample of 1,946 patients. Main measures The presence of a cannabis term in the chart suggesting documented cannabis use or cannabis-related discussions. Content of those discussions was extracted in a subset of patients. Logistic regression was used to examine the association between patient factors, including state of residence legal status, with documentation of cannabis use. Key Results Among the 12,070 patients, 65.8% (N = 7,948) had a cannabis term, whereas 34.1% (N = 4,122) of patients lacked a cannabis term, suggesting that no documentation of cannabis use or discussion between provider and patient took place. Among the subset of patients who had a discussion documented, 47% related to cannabis use for medical reasons, 35% related to a discussion of VA policy or legal issues, and 17% related to a discussion specific to medical risks or harm reduction strategies. In adjusted analyses, residents of states with legalized recreational cannabis were less likely to have any cannabis-related discussion compared to patients in non-legal states [OR 0.73, 95% CI 0.64–0.82]. Conclusions One-third of LTOT patients did not have documentation of cannabis use in the chart in the 6 months following a positive UDT for cannabis. Discussions related to the medical risks of cannabis use or harm reduction strategies were uncommon.https://doi.org/10.1186/s42238-024-00221-3CannabisCannabis use in VeteransCannabis for painCannabis documentationCannabisAnd opioids |
| spellingShingle | Tauheed Zaman Dawn M. Bravata Amy Byers Erin Krebs Samuel Leonard Charles Austin Friedhelm Sandbrink Deborah S. Hasin Salomeh Keyhani A national study of clinical discussions about cannabis use among Veteran patients prescribed opioids Journal of Cannabis Research Cannabis Cannabis use in Veterans Cannabis for pain Cannabis documentation Cannabis And opioids |
| title | A national study of clinical discussions about cannabis use among Veteran patients prescribed opioids |
| title_full | A national study of clinical discussions about cannabis use among Veteran patients prescribed opioids |
| title_fullStr | A national study of clinical discussions about cannabis use among Veteran patients prescribed opioids |
| title_full_unstemmed | A national study of clinical discussions about cannabis use among Veteran patients prescribed opioids |
| title_short | A national study of clinical discussions about cannabis use among Veteran patients prescribed opioids |
| title_sort | national study of clinical discussions about cannabis use among veteran patients prescribed opioids |
| topic | Cannabis Cannabis use in Veterans Cannabis for pain Cannabis documentation Cannabis And opioids |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s42238-024-00221-3 |
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