Factors Associated with Demand for Medical Cannabis Use among Breast Cancer Patients in Northern Thailand: A Cross-Sectional Study.

OBJECTIVE: Breast cancer is the leading cause of death among women worldwide. Although modern treatments are recognized as effective, they often cause side effects. In Thailand, medical cannabis (MC) was legalized in 2019 with limited research on demand for its use. Therefore, this study aimed to identify factors associated with demand for MC among breast cancer patients in the North of Thailand as a target group. METHODS: This cross-sectional analytical study administered multistage random sampling to recruit 432 breast cancer patients in northern Thailand. Ethical approval and signed written informed consents were obtained from the patients, prior to the study. A standardized, self-administered structured questionnaire was used to obtain the sociodemographic characteristics, clinical characteristics, social support, attitudes toward MC, knowledge about MC, health literacy about MC, and questions on demand for MC use. The scores from all questionnaires were converted to percentages before analysis. RESULT: A total of 173 (40%) of patients with breast cancer reported demand to use MC. The factors that were significantly associated with demand to use MC included had high levels of health literacy about MC (adj.OR = 4.96; 95% CI: 2.77 to 8.87), higher levels of social support (adj.OR =4.56; 95% CI: 2.20 to 9.42), higher monthly household income (adj.OR =4.02; 95% CI: 2.33 to 6.94), and positive attitudes toward MC use (adj.OR = 3.52; 95% CI: 1.91 to 6.52) when controlling for effects of other covariates. CONCLUSION: We found substantial demand for MC use among breast cancer patients. Health literacy, social support, monthly household income, and attitudes about MC were significantly associated with demand for MC use. Therefore, improving health literacy, social support, and attitudes about MC, especially among breast cancer patients, could help increase demand for MC as a complementary and alternative medicine alongside cancer treatment.

OVCCA Web Application as Supplementary Material to Facilitate Health Literacy Regarding Carcinogenic Human Liver Fluke: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Thailand.

BACKGROUND: Liver fluke, Opisthorchis viverrini, is associated to cholangiocarcinoma which is found frequently in some areas of Southeast Asian countries particularly in Thailand, Lao People Republic Democratic, Cambodia.  This study sought to investigate the effects of an O. viverrini and cholangiocarcinoma (OVCCA) web application to facilitate health literacy regarding O. viverrini in Northeast Thailand. METHODS: A randomized controlled trial study was performed among an intervention group (n=63) and a control group (n=63) during a one-year period from July 2019 to May 2020. The intervention group received the health literacy promotion program of O. viverrini information through the OVCCA web application for 6 weeks. The control group received an activity package from the public health department. The success of the program was evaluated at week 24 after the groups finished the last activity. ANCOVA, t-test and multiple logistic regression were used for data analysis for both groups. RESULTS: The scores for knowledge; ability to access, understand, appraise, and apply information; motivation for protection; and practice of O. viverrini prevention were significantly higher for the intervention group than for the control group. The results indicated that a health literacy promotion program through an OVCCA web application could be advantageous for preventing and controlling O. viverrini infection. CONCLUSION: This intervention may be used as a potential strategy and guideline for self-care and health promotion in other endemic areas.