Chronically ill patients who use legally prescribed medical cannabis products report improvements in their overall quality of life according to the findings of a recent analysis conducted by a team of researchers in Germany.
Per data published in the German medical journal Schmerz, eighty-four percent of medical cannabis patients surveyed reported quality of life improvements following their use of prescribed medical cannabis.
The team of German researchers assessed patient-reported data in a nationwide sampling involving 1,582 patients authorized to use cannabis by their German physicians. Since 2017, doctors in Germany have been permitted to prescribe medical cannabis to patients who are historically unresponsive to ‘traditional’ therapies.
“The survey of Copeia captured early 2022 patient-reported outcomes (PRO) in Germany under cannabis medicinal product (CAM) therapy, with particular attention to symptoms, symptom changes, indications, side effects, dosages, and cost bearers.” the researchers stated about their analysis.
“A standardized questionnaire was administered online nationwide in dialogue form over a 15-week period to collect itemized symptoms and PRO. Recruitment was supported by pharmacies, prescribing physicians, and patient associations. Inclusion criteria included physician-prescribed CAM therapy.” the researchers also stated.
Patients involved in the analysis reported suffering from chronic pain, depression, sleep disturbances, and various other symptoms.
“Of 1582 participants, 1030 data sets (65%) could be completely analyzed. There was a heterogeneous patient population, whose common feature was disease chronicity. The frequency distribution of symptoms showed a homogeneous pattern for the respective indications, in which the most frequent six (pain 71%, sleep disturbance 64%, stress/tension 52%, inner restlessness 52%, depressive mood 44% and muscle tension 43%) seem to have a special significance.” the researchers stated about their findings.
“A symptom matrix (SMX) composed of different symptoms seems to play a special role in CAM therapy to improve the quality of life of chronically ill patients, regardless of the underlying disease. The SMX could contribute to the identification of an indication and to targeted treatment monitoring.” the researchers concluded.