Associations of Healthcare Service Utilization With Cannabis Use Status,Use Reasons,and Use Characteristics Among Those Age 50 and Older

Abstract

Cannabis use has increased steadily among older adults, and they are a significant proportion of medical cannabis users. Using 2015–2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health data (n = 44,007 age 50+), we examined whether the numbers of emergency department (ED) visits and nights hospitalized are associated with cannabis use status, use reason (nonmedical-only, medical-only, and medical and nonmedical), and use characteristics. Past-year users had higher rates of any ED visit (30.0%) and hospitalization (14.7%) than prior-to-past-year users and never users. However, negative binomial regression models showed that past-year users did not differ from never users on numbers of ED visits and nights hospitalized, although they had more ED visits than prior-to-past-year users (IRR = 1.21, 95% CI = 1.10–1.34). Medical-only users had more ED visits (IRR = 1.38, 95% CI = 1.02–1.88) than nonmedical-only users. Cannabis use and use characteristics were not associated with nights hospitalized. The study findings provide insights into older cannabis users’ healthcare utilization.