Cannabis use patterns in drug-resistant and pharmacoresponsive epilepsy: Single tertiary referral center survey investigation

This study sought to identify differences in cannabis use and perceptions about cannabis in mitigating seizure-related symptoms in patients with epilepsy, and to evaluate differences in these patterns between drug-resistant versus pharmacoresponsive epilepsy. A collection of self-report surveys comp...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2023-01, Vol.18 (1), p.e0281040-e0281040
Main Authors: McDermott, Danielle, Darwin, Marielle L, Fetrow, Kirsten, Coulter, Ian, Biesecker, Kristal, Thompson, John A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anticonvulsants - therapeutic use
Biology and Life Sciences
Cannabidiol
Cannabinoid Receptor Agonists - therapeutic use
Cannabis
Care and treatment
Clinical trials
Convulsions & seizures
Diagnosis
Drug resistance
Drug Resistant Epilepsy - drug therapy
Drug Resistant Epilepsy - epidemiology
Drug therapy
Epilepsy
Epilepsy - drug therapy
Epilepsy - epidemiology
Hallucinogens - therapeutic use
Humans
Likert scale
Marijuana
Medical research
Medicine and Health Sciences
Medicine, Experimental
Patients
Pharmacology
Prevention
Research and Analysis Methods
Retrospective Studies
Seizures
Seizures - drug therapy
Social Sciences
Surveys
Tertiary
Tertiary Care Centers
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Summary:This study sought to identify differences in cannabis use and perceptions about cannabis in mitigating seizure-related symptoms in patients with epilepsy, and to evaluate differences in these patterns between drug-resistant versus pharmacoresponsive epilepsy. A collection of self-report surveys completed by patients with epilepsy (n = 76) were used to retrospectively compare differences in those with drug-resistant versus pharmacoresponsive epilepsy regarding 1) proportion who used cannabis, 2) frequency of use, 3) method of use, and 4) reason for use. A Cochran-Armitage test for trend indicated that of patients who used cannabis, a higher proportion of patients in the drug-resistant group used more frequently than in the pharmacoresponsive group. Almost half (48%) of those in the drug-resistant group reported daily use compared to approximately a third (36%) of those in the pharmacoresponsive group. Additionally, no patient in either group reported that cannabis was harmful in relation to seizure-related symptoms. Results from this study highlight the need for epilepsy providers to formally assess patients' perceptions and use of non-prescribed cannabis to inform clinical care decisions, particularly in the drug-resistant epilepsy population.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0281040