Table 1.
Characteristics of the 90 included participants
| Total | THCa | CBD only | p value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | n = 90 (100%) | n = 39 (100%) | n = 51 (100%) | |
| Sex | 0.62 | |||
| Male | 58 (64) | 24 (62) | 34 (67) | |
| Female | 32 (36) | 15 (38) | 17 (33) | |
| Median age at the first prescription in years (IQR) | 11.5 (6–15) | 14 (9–16) | 9 (6–14) | 0.029 |
| Number of diagnoses | 0.09 | |||
| One | 39 (43) | 13 (33) | 26 (51) | |
| Two or more | 51 (57) | 26 (67) | 25 (49) | |
| Diagnosisb | ||||
| Epilepsy | 66 (73) | 22 (56) | 44 (86) | 0.001 |
| Drug-resistant epilepsy | 20 (22) | 3 (8) | 17 (33) | |
| Dravet syndrome | 7 (8) | 1 (3) | 6 (12) | |
| Lennox–Gastaut syndrome (LGS) | 7 (8) | - | 7 (14) | |
| Absences | 4 (4) | 3 (8) | 1 (2) | |
| Cerebral palsy | 32 (36) | 19 (49) | 13 (26) | 0.071 |
| Encephalopathy | 15 (17) | 6 (15) | 9 (18) | 0.78 |
| Metabolic disease | 8 (9) | 6 (15) | 2 (4) | 0.07 |
| Autism | 7 (8) | 1 (3) | 6 (12) | 0.13 |
| Genetic disorder | 6 (7) | 4 (10) | 2 (4) | 0.40 |
| Cancer | 4 (4) | 4 (10) | 0 | 0.03 |
| Tourette’s syndrome | 3 (3) | 2 (5) | 1 (2) | 0.58 |
| Severe head injury | 3 (3) | 3 (8) | 0 | - |
| Otherc | 8 (9) | 4 (10) | 4 (8) | |
| Symptoms/indicationb | ||||
| Seizure/epilepsy | 60 (67) | 20 (51) | 40 (78) | 0.007 |
| Spasticity | 27 (30) | 20 (51) | 7 (14) | 0.001 |
| Pain | 26 (29) | 20 (51) | 6 (12) | 0.001 |
| Sleep disorder | 15 (17) | 5 (13) | 10 (20) | 0.39 |
| Lack of weight gain | 11 (12) | 8 (21) | 3 (6) | 0.05 |
| Anxiety disorders/behaviour | 10 (11) | 7 (18) | 3 (6) | 0.10 |
| Vomiting | 9 (10) | 7 (18) | 2 (4) | 0.04 |
| Nausea | 8 (9) | 7 (18) | 1 (2) | 0.02 |
| Loss of appetite | 7 (8) | 6 (15) | 1 (2) | 0.04 |
| ADHD, behaviour change | 5 (6) | 1 (3) | 4 (8) | 0.38 |
| Inflammatory condition | 4 (4) | 2 (5) | 2 (4) | 1.0 |
| Tics | 3 (3) | 2 (5) | 1 (2) | 0.58 |
| Others | 3 (3) | 3 (8) | - | - |
| Type of medical cannabis preparation, initial | - | |||
| THC-based preparation | 39 (43) | 39 (100) | ||
| Dronabinol solution 2.5% | 20 (22) | 20 (51) | - | |
| Standardized cannabis tincture | 10 (11) | 10 (26) | - | |
| Standardized cannabis oil | 9 (10) | 9 (23) | - | |
| CBD-based preparation | 51 (57) | 51 (100) | ||
| CBD 2.5% | 20 (22) | - | 20 (39) | |
| CBD 5% | 17 (19) | - | 17 (33) | |
| CBD 10% | 14 (16) | - | 14 (28) | |
| Other co-medicationsb | ||||
| Antiepileptic drugs | 60 (67) | 21 (5) | 39 (77) | 0.024 |
| Muscle relaxants | 10 (11) | 8 (21) | 2 4) | 0.018 |
| Analgesics and opiates | 10 (11) | 9 (23) | 1 (2) | 0.002 |
| Other drugs | 25 (28) | 15 (39) | 11 (22) | 0.08 |
| Additional therapyb | ||||
| Physical therapy | 63 (70) | 30 (77) | 33 (65) | 0.21 |
| Occupational therapy | 46 (51) | 17 (44) | 29 (57) | 0.21 |
| Osteopathy | 23 (26) | 10 (26) | 13 (26) | 0.99 |
| Speech therapy | 9 (10) | 4 (10) | 5 (10) | 0.94 |
| Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) | 6 (7) | 2 (5) | 4 (8) | 0.61 |
| Homeopathy | 5 (6) | 2 (5) | 3 (6) | 0.88 |
| Chiropractic | 5 (6) | 2 (5) | 3 (6) | 0.88 |
| Others | 11 (12) | 5 (13) | 6 (12) | 0.88 |
| No answer | 13 (14) | 5 (13) | 8 (16) | 0.90 |
CBD cannabidiol, THC tetrahydrocannabinol, ADHD attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
aSix patients who received both THC and pure CBD were assigned to THC
bp values for each diagnosis vs. no disease (reference), each symptom vs. no symptom (reference), and each additional therapy vs. no additional therapy (reference), each co-medication vs. no other co-medication were calculated using chi-squared of Fisher exact
cOther diseases include 2 with neuropathic pain, 2 with AD(H)S, 2 with epidermolysis sclerosis, 1 with depression, 1 with tuberous sclerosis