Daily use, especially of high-potency cannabis, drives the earlier onset of psychosis in cannabis users.
Schizophr Bull
; 40(6): 1509-17, 2014 Nov.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-24345517
ABSTRACT
UNLABELLED Cannabis use is associated with an earlier age of onset of psychosis (AOP). However, the reasons for this remain debated. METHODS:
We applied a Cox proportional hazards model to 410 first-episode psychosis patients to investigate the association between gender, patterns of cannabis use, and AOP.RESULTS:
Patients with a history of cannabis use presented with their first episode of psychosis at a younger age (mean years = 28.2, SD = 8.0; median years = 27.1) than those who never used cannabis (mean years = 31.4, SD = 9.9; median years = 30.0; hazard ratio [HR] = 1.42; 95% CI 1.16-1.74; P < .001). This association remained significant after controlling for gender (HR = 1.39; 95% CI 1.11-1.68; P < .001). Those who had started cannabis at age 15 or younger had an earlier onset of psychosis (mean years = 27.0, SD = 6.2; median years = 26.9) than those who had started after 15 years (mean years = 29.1, SD = 8.5; median years = 27.8; HR = 1.40; 95% CI 1.06-1.84; P = .050). Importantly, subjects who had been using high-potency cannabis (skunk-type) every day had the earliest onset (mean years = 25.2, SD = 6.3; median years = 24.6) compared to never users among all the groups tested (HR = 1.99; 95% CI 1.50- 2.65; P < .0001); these daily users of high-potency cannabis had an onset an average of 6 years earlier than that of non-cannabis users.CONCLUSIONS:
Daily use, especially of high-potency cannabis, drives the earlier onset of psychosis in cannabis users.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Psychotic Disorders
/
Cannabis
/
Age of Onset
/
Affective Disorders, Psychotic
Type of study:
Etiology_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Language:
En
Journal:
Schizophr Bull
Year:
2014
Document type:
Article