First-Year Trajectories of Medical Cannabis Use Among Adults Taking Opioids for Chronic Pain: An Observational Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVE: To describe first-year trajectories of medical cannabis use and identify characteristics associated with patterns of use in a cohort of adults using opioids for chronic pain. DESIGN: Latent class trajectory analysis of a prospective cohort study using data on the 14-day frequency of medical cannabis use. SETTING: A large academic medical center and four medical cannabis dispensaries in the New York City metropolitan area. SUBJECTS: Adults with chronic pain using opioids and newly certified for medical cannabis in New York between 2018 and 2020. METHODS: Using latent class trajectory analysis, we identified clusters of participants based on the 14-day frequency of medical cannabis use. We used logistic regression to determine factors associated with cluster membership, including sociodemographic characteristics, pain, substance use, and mental health symptoms. RESULTS: Among 99 participants, the mean age was 53 years; 62% were women, and 52% were White. We identified three clusters of medical cannabis use: infrequent use (n = 30, mean use = 1.5 days/14-day period), occasional use (n = 28, mean = 5.7 days/14-day period), and frequent use (n = 41, mean = 12.1 days/14-day period). Within clusters, use patterns did not vary significantly over 52 weeks. Differences were observed in two sociodemographic variables: Frequent (vs infrequent) use was associated with non-Hispanic White race/ethnicity (adjusted odds ratio 4.54, 95% confidence interval 1.49-14.29), while occasional (vs infrequent) use was associated with employment (adjusted odds ratio 13.84, 95% confidence interval 1.21-158.74). CONCLUSIONS: Three clusters of medical cannabis use patterns emerged and were stable over time. Results suggest that structural factors related to race/ethnicity and employment may be major drivers of medical cannabis use, even among adults certified for its use.

Medical Marijuana and Opioids (MEMO) Study: protocol of a longitudinal cohort study to examine if medical cannabis reduces opioid use among adults with chronic pain.

INTRODUCTION: In the USA, opioid analgesic use and overdoses have increased dramatically. One rapidly expanding strategy to manage chronic pain in the context of this epidemic is medical cannabis. Cannabis has analgesic effects, but it also has potential adverse effects. Further, its impact on opioid analgesic use is not well studied. Managing pain in people living with HIV is particularly challenging, given the high prevalence of opioid analgesic and cannabis use. This study's overarching goal is to understand how medical cannabis use affects opioid analgesic use, with attention to Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol content, HIV outcomes and adverse events. METHODS AND ANALYSES: We are conducting a cohort study of 250 adults with and without HIV infection with (a) severe or chronic pain, (b) current opioid use and (c) who are newly certified for medical cannabis in New York. Over 18 months, we collect data via in-person visits every 3 months and web-based questionnaires every 2 weeks. Data sources include: questionnaires; medical, pharmacy and Prescription Monitoring Program records; urine and blood samples; and physical function tests. Using marginal structural models and comparisons within participants' 2-week time periods (unit of analysis), we will examine how medical cannabis use (primary exposure) affects (1) opioid analgesic use (primary outcome), (2) HIV outcomes (HIV viral load, CD4 count, antiretroviral adherence, HIV risk behaviours) and (3) adverse events (cannabis use disorder, illicit drug use, diversion, overdose/deaths, accidents/injuries, acute care utilisation). ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study is approved by the Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine institutional review board. Findings will be disseminated through conferences, peer-reviewed publications and meetings with medical cannabis stakeholders. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ClinicalTrials.gov Registry (NCT03268551); Pre-results.

Disagreement and Uncertainty Among Experts About how to Respond to Marijuana Use in Patients on Long-term Opioids for Chronic Pain: Results of a Delphi Study.

BACKGROUND: Marijuana use is common among patients on long-term opioid therapy (LTOT) for chronic pain, but there is a lack of evidence to guide clinicians' response. OBJECTIVE: To generate expert consensus about responding to marijuana use among patients on LTOT. DESIGN: Analysis from an online Delphi study. SETTING/SUBJECTS: Clinician experts in pain and opioid management across the United States. METHODS: Participants generated management strategies in response to marijuana use without distinction between medical and nonmedical use, then rated the importance of each management strategy from 1 (not at all important) to 9 (extremely important). A priori rules for consensus were established, and disagreement was explored using cases. Thematic analysis of free-text responses examined factors that influenced participants' decision-making. RESULTS: Of 42 participants, 64% were internal medicine physicians. There was consensus that it is not important to taper opioids as an initial response to marijuana use. There was disagreement about the importance of tapering opioids if there is a pattern of repeated marijuana use without clinical suspicion for a cannabis use disorder (CUD) and consensus that tapering is of uncertain importance if there is suspicion for CUD. Three themes influenced experts' perceptions of the importance of tapering: 1) benefits and harms of marijuana for the individual patient, 2) a spectrum of belief about the overall riskiness of marijuana use, and 3) variable state laws or practice policies. CONCLUSIONS: Experts disagree and are uncertain about the importance of opioid tapering for patients with marijuana use. Experts were influenced by patient factors, provider beliefs, and marijuana policy, highlighting the need for further research.

Marijuana Use Is Not Associated With Changes in Opioid Prescriptions or Pain Severity Among People Living With HIV and Chronic Pain.

BACKGROUND: People living with HIV (PLWH) commonly report marijuana use for chronic pain, although there is limited empirical evidence to support its use. There is hope that marijuana may reduce prescription opioid use. Our objective was to investigate whether marijuana use among PLWH who have chronic pain is associated with changes in pain severity and prescribed opioid use (prescribed opioid initiation and discontinuation). METHODS: Participants completed self-report measures of chronic pain and marijuana use at an index visit and were followed up for 1 year in the Center for AIDS Research Network of Integrated Clinical Systems (CNICS). Self-reported marijuana use was the exposure variable. Outcome variables were changes in pain and initiation or discontinuation of opioids during the study period. The relationship between exposure and outcomes was assessed using generalized linear models for pain and multivariable binary logistic regression models for opioid initiation/discontinuation. RESULTS: Of 433 PLWH and chronic pain, 28% reported marijuana use in the past 3 months. Median pain severity at the index visit was 6.3/10 (interquartile range 4.7-8.0). Neither increases nor decreases in marijuana use were associated with changes in pain severity, and marijuana use was not associated with either lower odds of opioid initiation or higher odds of opioid discontinuation. CONCLUSIONS: We did not find evidence that marijuana use in PLWH is associated with improved pain outcomes or reduced opioid prescribing. This suggests that caution is warranted when counseling PLWH about potential benefits of recreational or medical marijuana.

Cannabis Use is Associated with Lower Odds of Prescription Opioid Analgesic Use Among HIV-Infected Individuals with Chronic Pain.

BACKGROUND: Chronic pain is common in the United States and prescribed opioid analgesics use for noncancer pain has increased dramatically in the past two decades, possibly accounting for the current opioid addiction epidemic. Co-morbid drug use in those prescribed opioid analgesics is common, but there are few data on polysubstance use patterns. OBJECTIVE: We explored patterns of use of cigarette, alcohol, and illicit drugs in HIV-infected people with chronic pain who were prescribed opioid analgesics. METHODS: We conducted a secondary data analysis of screening interviews conducted as part of a parent randomized trial of financial incentives to improve HIV outcomes among drug users. In a convenience sample of people with HIV and chronic pain, we collected self-report data on demographic characteristics; pain; patterns of opioid analgesic use (both prescribed and illicit); cigarette, alcohol, and illicit drug use (including cannabis, heroin, and cocaine) within the past 30 days; and current treatment for drug use and HIV. RESULTS: Almost half of the sample of people with HIV and chronic pain reported current prescribed opioid analgesic use (N = 372, 47.1%). Illicit drug use was common (N = 505, 63.9%), and cannabis was the most commonly used illicit substance (N = 311, 39.4%). In multivariate analyses, only cannabis use was significantly associated with lower odds of prescribed opioid analgesic use (adjusted odds ratio = 0.57; 95% confidence interval: 0.38-0.87). Conclusions/Importance: Our data suggest that new medical cannabis legislation might reduce the need for opioid analgesics for pain management, which could help to address adverse events associated with opioid analgesic use.

Pain Management for Primary Care Providers: A Narrative Review of High-Impact Studies, 2014-2016.

Objective: This manuscript reviews high-impact, peer-reviewed studies published from January 2014 to March 2016 that are relevant to pain management in primary care. Given the recent release of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's "Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain" emphasizing the primacy of nonopioid treatment, we focused our review on nonopioid pain management. Design: Narrative review of peer-reviewed literature. Methods: We searched three article summary services and queried expert contacts for high-impact, English-language studies related to the management of pain in adults in primary care. All authors reviewed 142 study titles to arrive at group consensus on article content domains. Within article domains, individual authors selected studies approved by the larger group according to their impact on primary care clinical practice, policy, and research, as well as quality of the study methods. Through iterative discussion, 12 articles were selected for detailed review, discussion, and presentation in this narrative review. Results: We present key articles addressing each of six domains of pain management: pharmacotherapy for acute pain; interventional treatments; medical cannabis; complementary and integrative medicine; care management in chronic pain; and prevention. Within each section, we conclude with implications for pain management in primary care. Conclusions: There is growing evidence for multiple nonopioid treatment modalities available to clinicians for the management of pain in primary care. The dissemination and implementation of these studies, including innovative care management interventions, warrant additional study and support from clinicians, educators, and policy-makers.

Pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic treatments for chronic pain in individuals with HIV: a systematic review.

Chronic pain occurs in as many as 85% of individuals with HIV and is associated with substantial functional impairment. Little guidance is available for HIV providers seeking to address their patients' chronic pain. We conducted a systematic review to identify clinical trials and observational studies that examined the impact of pharmacologic or non-pharmacologic interventions on pain and/or functional outcomes among HIV-infected individuals with chronic pain in high-development countries. Eleven studies met inclusion criteria and were mostly low or very low quality. Seven examined pharmacologic interventions (gabapentin, pregabalin, capsaicin, analgesics including opioids) and four examined non-pharmacologic interventions (cognitive behavioral therapy, self-hypnosis, smoked cannabis). The only controlled studies with positive results were of capsaicin and cannabis, and had short-term follow-up (≤12 weeks). Among the seven studies of pharmacologic interventions, five had substantial pharmaceutical industry sponsorship. These findings highlight several important gaps in the HIV/chronic pain literature that require further research.

Low use of opioid risk reduction strategies in primary care even for high risk patients with chronic pain.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Experts recommend close oversight of patients receiving opioid analgesics for chronic non-cancer pain (CNCP), especially those at increased risk of misuse. We hypothesized that physicians employ opioid risk reduction strategies more frequently in higher risk patients. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort using electronic medical records. PARTICIPANTS: Patients on long-term opioids (≥3 monthly prescriptions in 6 months) treated for CNCP in eight primary care practices. METHODS: We examined three risk reduction strategies: (1) any urine drug test; (2) regular office visits (at least once per 6 months and within 30 days of modifying opioid treatment); and (3) restricted early refills (one or fewer opioid refills more than a week early). Risk factors for opioid misuse included: age <45 years old, drug or alcohol use disorder, tobacco use, or mental health disorder. Associations of risk factors with each outcome were assessed in non-linear mixed effects models adjusting for patient clustering within physicians, demographics and clinical factors. MAIN RESULTS: Of 1,612 patients, 8.0% had urine drug testing, 49.8% visited the office regularly, and 76.6% received restricted (one or fewer) early refills. Patient risk factors were: age <45 (29%), drug use disorder (7.6%), alcohol use disorder (4.5%), tobacco use (16.1%), and mental health disorder (48.4%). Adjusted odds ratios (AOR) of urine drug testing were significantly increased for patients with a drug use disorder (3.18; CI 1.94, 5.21) or a mental health disorder (1.73; CI 1.14, 2.65). However, the AOR for restricted early refills was significantly decreased for patients with a drug use disorder (0.56; CI 0.34, 0.92). After adjustment, no risk factor was significantly associated with regular office visits. An increasing number of risk factors was positively associated with urine drug testing (p < 0.001), but negatively associated with restricted early refills (p = 0.009). CONCLUSION: Primary care physicians' adoption of opioid risk reduction strategies is limited, even among patients at increased risk of misuse.