Cassie Wicken, Anant Walia, Soroosh Solhjoo, Katrina Mark, Prevalence of cannabis use disorder among pregnant people who test positive for cannabis at time of delivery, AJOG Global Reports, 2022, 100095, ISSN 2666-5778,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xagr.2022.100095.
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666577822000442)
Abstract
Objectives
The objectives of this study were to assess the prevalence of cannabis use disorder (CUD) and medicinal cannabis use among pregnant people who test positive for cannabis at the time of delivery at a single institution.
Methods
A standardized questionnaire was administered to postpartum people who tested positive for cannabis use by urine toxicology at time of admission to the Obstetric Care Unit at the University of Maryland Medical Center. The questionnaire included questions modeled after the National Survey on Drug Use and Health’s (NSDUH) assessment of cannabis use disorder. The questionnaire also asked the respondent to indicate which symptoms, if any, they used cannabis to treat and whether cannabis had been recommended by a physician.
Results
Out of 46 study respondents, 12 (26.1%) met DSM-V criteria for CUD. Among the 37 respondents who answered questions about physician recommendation and treatment of symptoms, 28 (75.7%) reported using cannabis for symptom control, most commonly nausea or vomiting. Two respondents reported having been recommended cannabis by a physician before they became pregnant but not specifically after becoming pregnant. Thirty one out of 35 (88.5%) indicated that they intended to stop using cannabis during pregnancy.
Conclusions
In this study, a quarter of birthing people who tested positive for cannabis at the time of delivery met CUD criteria. Further investigation is needed to identify barriers and unmet needs for substance use treatment.
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