Table. Trends in Prevalence of Past-Year Cannabis Use by Sociodemographic, Chronic Disease, Health Care Use, and Substance Use Characteristics Among Adults 65 Years and Older in the United States, 2015-2018a.
| Characteristic | Weighted % (95% CI) | % Change From 2015 to 2018 | Linear Trend P Value | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | Absolute Change | Relative Change | ||
| Overall past-year cannabis use | 2.4 (1.8-3.2) | 3.3 (2.5-4.2) | 3.7 (3.1-4.4) | 4.2 (3.4-5.1) | 1.8 | 75.0 | .001 |
| Sex | |||||||
| Male | 3.6 (2.4-5.3) | 5.1 (3.8-6.9) | 4.6 (3.5-5.9) | 5.7 (4.6-7.1) | 2.1 | 58.3 | .05 |
| Female | 1.5 (1.0-2.2) | 1.8 (1.1-2.7) | 3.0 (2.3-4.0) | 2.9 (2.1-4.1) | 1.4 | 93.3 | .01 |
| Race/ethnicity | |||||||
| Non-Hispanic white | 2.8 (2.1-3.8) | 3.1 (2.3-4.1) | 3.5 (2.9-4.3) | 4.0 (3.2-4.9) | 1.2 | 42.9 | .02 |
| All other races/ethnicitiesb | 1.1 (0.6-2.0) | 3.8 (2.4-6.2) | 4.2 (2.8-6.2) | 4.8 (3.0-7.9) | 3.7 | 336.4 | .01 |
| Education | |||||||
| High school or less | 2.3 (1.4-3.7) | 2.6 (1.7-3.9) | 2.1 (1.5-3.0) | 2.7 (1.9-3.8) | 0.4 | 17.4 | .71 |
| Some college | 2.1 (1.1-4.1) | 3.7 (2.5-5.3) | 5.0 (3.5-6.9) | 4.0 (2.9-5.5) | 1.9 | 90.5 | .02 |
| College or more | 2.9 (1.8-4.7) | 3.8 (2.6-5.6) | 4.7 (3.2-6.9) | 6.2 (4.3-8.8) | 3.3 | 113.8 | .01 |
| Total family income, $ | |||||||
| <20 000 | 3.7 (2.0-6.6) | 4.6 (2.7-7.6) | 4.8 (3.2-7.0) | 4.3 (2.8-6.5) | 0.6 | 16.2 | .67 |
| 20 000-49 999 | 1.3 (0.9-2.0) | 3.5 (2.4-5.1) | 3.3 (2.4-4.6) | 3.1 (2.1-4.6) | 1.8 | 138.5 | .02 |
| 50 000-74 999 | 3.6 (1.9-7.0) | 3.3 (2.0-5.3) | 1.7 (0.9-3.3) | 3.7 (2.4-5.8) | 0.1 | 2.8 | .75 |
| ≥75 000 | 2.4 (1.5-4.1) | 2.1 (1.1-3.8) | 4.8 (3.2-7.0) | 5.5 (3.7-8.0) | 3.1 | 129.2 | .003 |
| Marital status | |||||||
| Married | 2.1 (1.4-3.2) | 2.3 (1.6-3.2) | 3.1 (2.3-4.1) | 4.2 (3.1-5.6) | 2.1 | 100.0 | .004 |
| Unmarried | 2.9 (2.0-4.2) | 4.7 (3.3-6.6) | 4.6 (3.6-6.0) | 4.2 (3.1-5.6) | 1.3 | 44.8 | .15 |
| Chronic disease | |||||||
| Heart disease | 2.2 (1.2-4.2) | 2.9 (1.7-4.8) | 2.5 (1.5-4.2) | 4.6 (3.4-6.1) | 2.4 | 109.1 | .06 |
| Diabetes | 1.0 (0.5-2.1) | 2.2 (1.4-3.7) | 2.1 (1.2-3.6) | 2.8 (1.7-4.7) | 1.8 | 180.0 | .02 |
| Hypertension | 2.1 (1.3-3.4) | 3.0 (2.0-4.4) | 3.3 (2.5-4.5) | 3.6 (2.4-5.4) | 1.5 | 71.4 | .08 |
| Cancer | 3.3 (1.6-6.6) | 3.2 (1.8-5.5) | 3.4 (2.1-5.5) | 4.4 (3.0-6.2) | 1.1 | 33.3 | .49 |
| Chronic diseasesc | |||||||
| ≥2 | 2.4 (1.4-4.2) | 3.0 (2.1-4.5) | 2.7 (1.8-4.0) | 3.1 (2.1-4.7) | 0.7 | 29.2 | .54 |
| <2 | 2.4 (1.8-3.2) | 3.4 (2.6-4.5) | 4.2 (3.5-5.0) | 4.7 (3.6-6.2) | 2.3 | 95.8 | <.001 |
| Mental health treatment in the past year | 2.8 (1.3-5.9) | 8.7 (5.9-12.6) | 9.0 (5.6-14.1) | 7.2 (4.8-10.5) | 4.4 | 157.1 | .02 |
| Substance use in the past year | |||||||
| Tobacco use | 5.9 (3.8-9.1) | 10.3 (7.2-14.6) | 9.0 (6.1-13.1) | 10.2 (7.6-13.8) | 4.3 | 72.9 | .13 |
| Alcohol use | 2.9 (2.2-4.0) | 4.8 (3.7-6.1) | 5.7 (4.7-7.0) | 6.3 (5.0-8.0) | 3.4 | 117.2 | <.001 |
| All-cause emergency department use in the past year | 2.8 (1.6-4.7) | 2.5 (1.5-4.3) | 4.0 (2.9-5.5) | 4.7 (3.4-6.4) | 1.9 | 67.9 | .05 |
a
Data from the 2015-2018 US National Survey on Drug Use and Health among respondents 65 years and older (n = 14 896).
b
Owing to response sizes less than 10 in 2015 for certain races/ethnicities, black, Hispanic, and other nonwhite races were combined into 1 category.
c
Chronic conditions include asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cirrhosis, diabetes, heart disease, hepatitis, HIV/AIDS, hypertension, cancer, and kidney disease.