Medicinal cannabis for pain: Real-world data on three-month changes in symptoms and quality of life

Abstract

Background

Internationally, one of the most common conditions for which people seek medicinal cannabis (MC) is chronic pain. However, relatively little is known about the effectiveness of cannabis for reducing pain in Australia. Medicinal cannabis was made legally available in Australia in 2016. Project Twenty21 Australia is an observational study that follows patients prescribed MC for chronic pain, anxiety, PTSD and multiple sclerosis for up to 12 months. It commenced recruitment in February 2022. This paper describes some preliminary findings for a cohort of patients with chronic pain.

Method

Participants seeking treatment for chronic pain are prescribed MC from within a Project Formulary, and complete questionnaires at baseline then three monthly for up to 12 months. Pain severity and interference are assessed using the Brief Pain Index while standardised measures of quality of life, mood and sleep quality are also applied.

Results

By 30 November 2022, 55 participants with chronic pain had completed the first three-month follow-up. Patients reported a low quality of life and high levels of co-morbidity. Three-month data indicate that MC use was associated with significant reductions in self-reported pain intensity and pain interference (Effect sizes = 0.66 [95% CI = 0.34–0.98] and 0.56 [0.24–0.88], respectively). Additionally, there were significant improvements in quality of life, general health, mood/depression and sleep (Effect sizes = 0.53–0.63). One adverse reaction was reported which was mild in nature.

Conclusions

Preliminary evidence suggests that MC may be effective in reducing both pain severity and pain interference while also improving quality of life, general health, mood and sleep in patients with chronic pain. Increasing uptake of MC coupled with growing evidence of both the effectiveness and safety of these medications indicate a need both to make MC more widely available and to reduce financial costs associated with its use.