Table 1.
Demographic and disease‐related information for 1000 rheumatology patients
| Characteristics | All Patients (N = 1000) | Never Medical Cannabis Users (n = 874) | Ever Medical Cannabis Users (n=126) | P a |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demographics | ||||
| Age, mean (SD), y | 64.4 (13.8) | 64.9 (13.7) | 61.2 (14.7) | 0.006 |
| Female sex, n (%) | 724 (72.4) | 626 (71.6) | 98 (77.8) | 0.166 |
| Employment, n (%) | <0.001 | |||
| Full‐time | 298 (29.8) | 258 (29.5) | 40 (31.7) | … |
| Part‐time | 69 (6.9) | 56 (6.4) | 13 (10.3) | … |
| Unemployed | 15 (1.5) | 11 (1.3) | 4 (3.2) | … |
| Disabled | 58 (5.8) | 41 (4.7) | 17 (13.5) | … |
| Student | 9 (0.9) | 9 (1.0) | 0 (0.0) | … |
| Retired | 551 (55.1) | 499 (57.1) | 52 (41.3) | … |
| Unemployed/disabled | 73 (7.3) | 52 (5.9) | 21 (16.7) | <0.001 |
| Rheumatic diseases | ||||
| Inflammatory arthritis,b n (%) | 621 (62.1) | 541 (61.9) | 80 (63.5) | 0.769 |
| Rheumatoid arthritis | 308 (30.8) | 277 (31.7) | 31 (24.6) | 0.122 |
| Psoriatic arthritis | 100 (10.0) | 84 (9.6) | 16 (12.7) | 0.269 |
| Ankylosing spondylitis | 72 (7.2) | 55 (6.3) | 17 (13.5) | 0.008 |
| SLE | 23 (2.3) | 21 (2.4) | 2 (1.6) | 0.757 |
| PMR | 72 (7.2) | 62 (7.1) | 10 (7.9) | 0.713 |
| Gout | 17 (1.7) | 15 (1.7) | 2 (1.6) | >0.999 |
| Other | 36 (3.6) | 32 (3.7) | 4 (3.2) | >0.999 |
| Osteoarthritis,c n (%) | 427 (42.7) | 374 (42.8) | 53 (42.1) | 0.923 |
| Small joints | 163 (16.3) | 145 (16.6) | 18 (14.3) | 0.606 |
| Large joints | 232 (23.2) | 204 (23.3) | 28 (22.2) | 0.822 |
| Spine | 175 (17.5) | 151 (17.3) | 24 (19.0) | 0.617 |
| Soft tissue rheumatism, n (%) | 227 (22.7) | 191 (21.9) | 36 (28.6) | 0.111 |
| Fibromyalgia | 117 (11.7) | 90 (10.3) | 27 (21.4) | 0.001 |
| Tendonitis/bursitis | 121 (12.1) | 110 (12.6) | 11 (8.7) | 0.244 |
| Other rheumatic condition, n (%) | 109 (10.9) | 93 (10.6) | 16 (12.7) | 0.449 |
| Comorbid conditions, n (%) | ||||
| Cardiovascular | 394 (39.4) | 346 (39.6) | 48 (38.1) | 0.771 |
| Pulmonary | 64 (6.4) | 54 (6.2) | 10 (7.9) | 0.437 |
| Gastrointestinal | 194 (19.4) | 166 (19.0) | 28 (22.2) | 0.400 |
| Neurological | 49 (4.9) | 43 (4.9) | 6 (4.8) | 0.939 |
| Endocrine | 300 (30.0) | 273 (31.2) | 27 (21.4) | 0.029 |
| Mood disorder | 117 (11.7) | 96 (11.0) | 21 (16.7) | 0.074 |
| Other psychiatric disorder | 9 (0.9) | 6 (0.7) | 3 (2.4) | 0.093 |
| Other comorbid condition | 62 (6.2) | 58 (6.6) | 4 (3.2) | 0.166 |
| Medications for rheumatic diseases | ||||
| Number of medication types for rheumatic disease, mean (SD) | 1.3 (1.0) | 1.1 (0.9) | 2.0 (1.3) | <0.001 |
| Non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drug use, n (%) | 276 (27.6) | 234 (26.8) | 42 (33.3) | 0.136 |
| Disease‐modifying anti‐rheumatic drug use, n (%) | 323 (32.3) | 285 (32.6) | 38 (30.2) | 0.612 |
| Biologic use, n (%) | 155 (15.5) | 126 (14.4) | 29 (23.0) | 0.017 |
| Opioids use, n (%) | 76 (7.6) | 56 (6.4) | 20 (15.9) | 0.001 |
| Tranquilizer use, n (%) | 24 (2.4) | 17 (1.9) | 7 (5.6) | 0.023 |
| Antiepileptic use, n (%) | 95 (9.5) | 70 (8.0) | 25 (19.8) | <0.001 |
| Antidepressant use, n (%) | 70 (7.0) | 54 (6.2) | 16 (12.7) | 0.014 |
| Steroid use, n (%) | 150 (15.0) | 126 (14.4) | 24 (19.0) | 0.182 |
| Cannabis pharmaceutical, n (%) | 22 (2.2) | 6 (0.7) | 16 (12.7) | <0.001 |
| Cannabis herbal, n (%) | 34 (3.4) | 4 (0.5) | 30 (23.8) | <0.001 |
| Disease assessment, mean (SD) | ||||
| PGA (0‐10) | 2.6 (2.1) | 2.5 (2.0) | 3.5 (2.2) | <0.001 |
| PtGA (0‐10) | 3.7 (2.9) | 3.5 (2.9) | 4.8 (2.9) | <0.001 |
| Pain VAS, cm | 4.4 (3.0) | 4.2 (3.0) | 5.7 (2.8) | <0.001 |
| Cigarette use, n (%) | 0.002 | |||
| Nonsmoker | 636 (63.6) | 570 (65.2) | 66 (52.4) | … |
| Past smoker | 242 (24.2) | 209 (23.9) | 33 (26.2) | … |
| Current smoker | 114 (11.4) | 89 (10.2) | 25 (19.8) | … |
| Missing | 8 (0.8) | 6 (0.7) | 2 (1.6) | … |
| Cannabis use | ||||
| Recreational, n (%) | ||||
| Ever use | 283 (28.3) | 223 (25.5) | 60 (47.6) | <0.001 |
| Current use | 49 (4.9) | 27 (3.1) | 22 (17.5) | <0.001 |
| Medical, n (%) | ||||
| Ever used >10 times | 82 (8.2) | NA | 82 (65.1) | NA |
| Current medical use | 65 (6.5) | NA | 65 (51.6) | NA |
| If never used, consider medical use | NA | 466 (53.3) | NA | NA |
| Current cannabis use (any reason)e | ||||
| Current use, n (%) | 94 (9.4) | 27 (3.1) | 67 (53.2) | <0.001 |
| Method of herbal cannabis use,d n (%) | ||||
| Smoke | 44 (48.4)e | 17 (68.0)f | 27 (40.9)g | 0.033 |
| Vaporize | 23 (26.4)e | 3 (12.0)f | 21 (31.8)g | 0.066 |
| Oil/capsules | 34 (37.4)e | 0 (0.0)f | 34 (51.5)g | <0.001 |
| Edible | 25 (27.5)e | 4 (16.0)f | 21 (31.8)g | 0.189 |
| Rub | 4 (4.4)e | 0 (0.0)f | 4 (6.1)g | 0.572 |
| Current herbal cannabis use (medical reasons) | ||||
| Relief of symptoms (0‐10),h mean (SD) | NA | NA | 6.7 (2.5) | NA |
Abbreviation: NA, not applicable; PGA, Physician Global Assessment; PMR, polymyalgia rheumatica; PtGA, Patient Global Assessment; SLE, systemic lupus erythematosus; VAS, visual analog scale.
Significant (P < 0.05) P values indicated in bold. Missing category is not included in the comparison.
Patients may have had more than one type of inflammatory arthritis.
Patients may have had more than one type of osteoarthritis.
Patients may have used more than one method of herbal cannabis.
Proportions are based on the number of patients currently using herbal cannabis for any reason (all patients: n = 94; current recreational herbal cannabis users: n = 49; current medical herbal cannabis users: n = 65), excluding three patients who had missing method(s) of use.
Proportions are based on the number of patients in the never medical cannabis users group currently using herbal cannabis for recreational purposes (n = 27), excluding two patients who had missing method(s) of use.
Proportions are based on the number of patients in the ever medical cannabis users group currently using herbal cannabis for any reason (n = 67), excluding one patient who had missing method(s) of use.
Among patients using herbal cannabis for medical reasons; minimum (0) represents no relief, and maximum (10) represents maximum relief.