Does a history of cannabis use influence onset and course of schizophrenia?

Acta Psychiatr Scand

Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.

Published: June 2023

AI Article Synopsis

  • Some research shows that using cannabis can lead to mental health issues like psychosis, but it's not clear if it changes how schizophrenia affects people.
  • The study looked at medical records of young men in Sweden to see how cannabis use in their teens affected their risk of getting schizophrenia later.
  • They found that those who used cannabis had their first symptoms of schizophrenia earlier and needed more hospital visits, but the type of symptoms was similar between those who used cannabis and those who didn't.

Article Abstract

Introduction: While evidence strongly supports a causal effect of cannabis on psychosis, it is less clear whether the symptom pattern, clinical course, and outcomes differ in cases of schizophrenia with and without a background of cannabis use.

Methods: Analysis of medical records from a longitudinal follow-up of Swedish conscripts with data on cannabis use in adolescence and subsequent incidence of schizophrenia. One hundred sixty patients with schizophrenia were assessed using the OPCRIT protocol. Cases were validated for diagnosis schizophrenia according to OPCRIT.

Results: Patients with a cannabis history (n = 32), compared to those without (n = 128), had an earlier age at onset, a higher number of hospital admissions and a higher total number of hospital days. There was no significant difference in type of onset and clinical symptom profiles between the groups.

Conclusion: Our findings indicate that the disease burden of schizophrenia is greater in individuals who use cannabis during adolescence. Strengthening evidence on causality and teasing out long-term effects of pre-illness cannabis use from continued post-illness has clinical implications for improving schizophrenia outcomes.

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Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/acps.13562DOI Listing

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