Abstract
Objectives: To evaluate adherence among Israeli patients who are licensed to use medical cannabis and to identify factors associated with adherence to medical cannabis.Methods: Ninety-five novice licensed patients were interviewed for this cross-sectional study. The questionnaire measured demographics, the perceived patient–physician relationship, and the level of patients' active involvement in their healthcare. In addition, patients were queried about adverse effect(s) and about their overall satisfaction from this medical treatment.Results: Eighty percent (n=76) has been identified as adherent to medical cannabis use. Variables found associated with adherence were “country of origin” (immigrant status), “type of illness” (cancer vs. non-cancer), and “experiencing adverse effect(s).” Three predictors of adherence were found significant in a logistic regression model: “type of illness” (odds ratio [OR] 0.101), patient–physician relationship (OR 1.406), and level of patient activation (OR 1.132). 71.5% rated themselves being “completely satisfied” or “satisfied” from medical cannabis use.Conclusions: Our findings show a relatively high adherence rate for medical cannabis, as well as relative safety and high satisfaction among licensed patients. Additionally indicated is the need to develop and implement standardized education about this evolving field—to both patients and physicians.
Highlights
The adherence rate we found is higher than adherence rates reported for other medical treatments in previous studies,[45,46,47] and we suggest that this may be partially explained by the fact that licenses are only granted to patients who have gone through prior treatment regimens, already proving themselves as adherent patients
Other factors that could explain this relatively high adherence rate are the relative safety of medical cannabis and the overall high satisfaction that patients expressed from using medical cannabis
Our findings show a relatively high adherence rate for medical cannabis, as well as relative safety and high satisfaction among licensed patients
Summary
The Israeli regulatory program of medical cannabis has changed through the years and is managed by a Medical Cannabis Unit of the Israeli Ministry of Health (MOH). The estimated number of patients is currently 22,000, and licenses are generally granted as a last resort for patients whose symptoms have not been alleviated by traditional medications and treatments.[10] preliminary data from MOH indicate that a subset of patients are not using medical cannabis despite being licensed, namely not adhering to this treatment regimen
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