Table 1.
Characteristics of Patients Referred for and Certified for Medical Cannabis Among Patients With Available Demographic and Clinical Data, 2016–2021
| Bronx population (N=1.4 million) | Patients referred through EHR (N=1,965) | Patients certified by a medical cannabis provider* (N=1,417) | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
| |||
| Median age (IQR) | 34a | 54 (41–62) | 56 (45–65) |
| Female gender | 53%a | 1,270 (65%) | 882 (62%) |
| Hispanic ethnicity | 56%a | 884 (45%) | 632 (45%) |
| Race | |||
| Black | 35%a | 775 (39%) | 529 (37%) |
| White | 22%a | 195 (10%) | 154 (11%) |
| Other | 43%a | 815 (41%) | 626 (44%) |
| Declined or missing | 0 | 180 (9%) | 108 (8%) |
| Medicaid insurance | 36%b | 945 (48%) | 605 (43%) |
| Medical conditions | |||
| HIV | 2%c | 288 (15%) | 218 (15%) |
| Sickle cell disease | 0.1%d | 121 (6%) | 61 (4%) |
| Opiate use disorder | Uncertain | 189 (10%) | 208 (15%) |
Abbreviations: EHR = electronic health record; IQR = interquartile range.
not all patients were linked to a provider through an EHR-based referral
Sources: The authors. Bronx demographic data as noted.
= U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey, 2019. Bronx County, New York. Table DP05. https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?tid=ACSDP5Y2019.DP05&g=0400000US36_0500000US36005.
= New York City Department of Health. Community Health Survey 2019. https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/data/data-sets/community-health-survey-public-use-data.page.
= New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. HIV/AIDS Annual Surveillance Statistics 2019. Table 1.1. https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/ah/surveillance2019-tables-all.pdf.
= Estimate based on Wang Y, Kennedy J, Caggana M, et al. Sickle cell disease incidence among newborns in New York State by maternal race/ethnicity and nativity. Genet Med. 2013 March; 15(3): 222–228. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4453875/pdf/nihms-693235.pdf.