Health Literacy and Demand for Medical Cannabis use among Colorectal Cancer Patients in Northern Thailand: A Cross-Sectional Study.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore health literacy and factors associated with demand for medical cannabis (MC) use among colorectal cancer (CRC) patients in Northern Thailand as a target group. METHODS: This cross-sectional analytical study administered multistage random sampling to recruit 439 CRC 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. RESULTS: A total of 146 (33.26%) of patients with CRC reported demand to use MC. The multivariable analysis revealed that factors associated with demand for MC among CRC patients included: had high levels of health literacy about MC (adj.OR = 7.71; 95% CI: 4.28 to 13.87), aged less than 45 years (adj.OR =5.09; 95% CI: 2.78 to 9.34), positive attitudes toward MC use (adj.OR = 4.66; 95% CI: 2.68 to 8.10), and higher levels of social support (adj.OR =4.14; 95% CI: 2.39 to 7.17) when controlling effect of other covariates. CONCLUSIONS: Health literacy is an important factor affecting the demand for MC use of CRC patients. Therefore, improving health literacy, social support, and attitudes about MC especially among younger CRC patients, could help increase demand for MC as a complementary and alternative medicine alongside cancer treatment.

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.

Attitudes and Beliefs of Cancer Patients Demanding Medical Cannabis Use in North Thailand.

OBJECTIVE: Cannabis is therapeutic for numerous medical conditions. The demand for medical cannabis (MC) use in cancer patients is increasing, even with many patients lacking proper knowledge about MC. Therefore, this study aimed to describe the attitudes and beliefs of cancer patients demanding MC use in northern Thailand. METHODS: This cross-sectional study administered multistage random sampling to recruit 565 cancer patients who indicated that they demand MC use in northern Thailand. These patients responded to a self-administered structured questionnaire about their feelings on MC. We used descriptive statistics, including frequency and percentage, to describe categorical data, whereas we used mean and standard deviation for continuous data. RESULTS: Out of a total of 565 participants, 59.7% were female, 40.3% were male, and 46.4% were middle-aged adults, with a mean age of 58.3 ± 13.0 years. Of these participants who demanded the use of MC, the top three most common types of cancers were breast cancer (27.8%), colorectal cancer (21.4%), and lung cancer (10.6%). Most of the participants (51.2%) had early-stage cancer, and 46.5% received chemotherapy. We found that patients who demanded MC use had a generally positive attitude (53.3%). Among the patients who required MC use, 55.4% believed that it would help relieve side effects caused by modern treatments, cure cancer (38.8%), relieve suffering from cancer symptoms (30.6%), and cause one to live longer and to improve their health (16.3%). Most patients' decisions regarding MC use (45.3%) demanded MC use after receiving modern treatments, and 95.6% demanded MC use with modern treatment. Overall, these patients (65.3%) needed MC from the MC clinic in the Government Hospital. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the attitudes and beliefs towards MC use among cancer patients, their positive expectations of the outcome, and the need for MC use.

Factors Influencing Demand for Medical Cannabis Use among Cancer Patients in the North of Thailand.

OBJECTIVE: Cancer treatments often cause side effects. Cannabis is a plant that has been studied and used to treat and relieve side effects from modern medicine. Medical cannabis (MC) was legalized in Thailand in 2019 with limited research on demand for its use. Therefore, this study aimed to identify factors associated with demand for MC use among cancer patients in the North of Thailand. METHODS: This analytical cross-sectional study administered a multistage random sampling to recruit 1,284 cancer patients in northern Thailand to response a self-administered structured questionnaire. Generalized Linear Mixed Model (GLMM) was used to identify the determinants of demand for MC use among the population, presented adjusted odds ratios (adj.OR), 95% confidence intervals (95% CI), and p-values. RESULT: Nearly half of the respondents reported demand to use MC (44.0%). The factors that were significantly associated with demand to use MC included had high levels of health literacy about MC (adj.OR = 5.70; 95% CI: 4.08 to 7.96), higher levels of social support (adj.OR =5.50; 95% CI: 3.60 to 8.39), positive attitudes toward MC use (adj.OR = 2.56; 95% CI: 1.83 to 3.56), aged less than 30 (adj.OR =1.89; 95% CI: 1.21 to 2.93), diagnosis with cancerfor more than 12 months ago (adj.OR =1.73; 95% CI: 1.19 to 2.52) when controlling effect of other covariates. CONCLUSION: We found substantial demand for MC use among cancer patients. Health literacy,social support, attitudes about MC, age, and duration of having cancer were significantly associated with demand for MC use. Therefore, improving health literacy and social support, especially among older cancer patients, could help increasing demand for MC as a complementary medicine to treat cancers.