Adults aged 65 and older are the fastest-growing demographic for cannabis use in the US. Consequential diagnoses of cannabis use disorder (CUD) are also rising quickly among those living with HIV, who may use the substance to manage HIV-related symptoms, including side effects from antiretroviral therapy, pain, and moods, reported a recent study published in the Journal of Addiction Medicine.
“Older adults are an unrecognized group when it comes to cannabis use. We’ve devoted a lot of attention to cannabis use among youth, but clearly, older adults are also using it and experiencing harms that are severe enough to receive a clinical diagnosis of cannabis use disorder, for which there are limited treatments,” lead study author Dr. Danielle Haley, assistant professor of community health sciences at Boston University School of Public Health, said in a press release.
For the study, researchers analyzed electronic health records from 185, 372 individuals with an average age of 48 years old in the Veterans Aging Cohort Study-HIV, a national US cohort of people living with HIV matched 1:2 to people without the condition. Data was gathered between 2000 and 2022.
During the study period, the percentage of individuals with CUD increased from 3.4% to 5.7% among people with HIV, and 3% to 4.4% among those without the condition.
Individuals aged 65 years and over, however, experienced the greatest relative increase in CUD. Whereas 0.9% of those with HIV had the condition in 2000, the same was true for 4% in 2022. For those living without HIV, 0.03% had the condition in 2000, and by 2022: 3.15%.
The increase of CUD in older people living with HIV and those with multimorbidity is concerning as cannabis interacts with many prescription medications, wrote the researchers in their study.
“Our findings identify the need for universal screening and treatment for CUD as we work to understand all of the possible health effects of cannabis among different populations, especially older people and people with comorbidities,” concluded Dr. Haley.
Sources: EurekAlert, Journal of Addiction Medicine
