Medical marijuana was observed to “improve pain intensity scores and HRQoL [health-related quality of life] outcomes in patients with chronic, refractory pain” in a new study published by the British Journal of Pain.
Conducted by researchers at the University of Sydney and Westmead Hospital (both in Australia), the objective of the study was to “examine the tolerability and effectiveness of medicinal cannabis prescribed to patients for chronic, refractory pain, with a subset analysis on arthritis.”
The study examined self-reported adverse events (AEs) and changes in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) outcomes over time after commencing medicinal cannabis in patients with chronic, refractory pain. Patients were prescribed medicinal cannabis by a medical practitioner, containing various ratios of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and/or cannabidiol (CBD).
“The overall chronic pain cohort, and specifically the balanced CBD:THC products, were associated with significantly reduced pain intensity scores (p = 0.003, p = 0.025), with 22% of patients reporting a clinically meaningful reduction in pain intensity”, states the study.
Patients in the arthritis subset “reported significantly reduced pain intensity scores (p = 0.005) overall, and specifically for those taking CBD-only (p = 0.018) and balanced products (p = 0.005).”Other HRQoL outcomes, including pain interference and pain impact scores “were significantly improved depending on the CBD:THC ratio.”
Products that contained a balanced ratio of CBD:THC “were associated with improvements in the most number of PROMIS-29 domains. Approximately half (n = 364; 51%) of the chronic pain cohort experienced at least one AE, the most common being dry mouth (24%), somnolence (19%) or fatigue (12%). These findings were similar in the arthritis subset.”
Researchers conclude:
Medicinal cannabis was observed to improve pain intensity scores and HRQoL outcomes in patients with chronic, refractory pain, providing real-world insights into medicinal cannabis’ therapeutic potential.
