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Comparison of Male and Female Patients in Louisiana Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

Relatively little is known in terms of patient demographics, indications, previous cannabis use, or the forms and dosages of medical marijuana (MM) dispensed for patients at MM dispensaries. Even less is known in terms of how male and female patients may differ in each of these aspects. The goal of...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Allen, H. Raymond, Boudreaux, Doug, Keller, Jeffrey N.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7355764/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32549257
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jcm9061865
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author Allen, H. Raymond
Boudreaux, Doug
Keller, Jeffrey N.
author_facet Allen, H. Raymond
Boudreaux, Doug
Keller, Jeffrey N.
author_sort Allen, H. Raymond
collection PubMed
description Relatively little is known in terms of patient demographics, indications, previous cannabis use, or the forms and dosages of medical marijuana (MM) dispensed for patients at MM dispensaries. Even less is known in terms of how male and female patients may differ in each of these aspects. The goal of the current study was to examine each of these variables using a retrospective analysis of deidentified patient data from MM dispensaries in Louisiana. Deidentified data were analyzed from web-based pharmacist–patient consultations at MM dispensaries throughout Louisiana. Data were collected during the first 6 months following the initiation of the MM dispensing program in Louisiana. A total of 1195 MM patients (598 male/597 female) were included in the analyses. The average age of the sample was 51.9 years (±14.8) and it was composed primarily of white patients (86.7%). Males and females were nearly identical in terms of average age, race, previous cannabis use, indication profile, and MM recommendations. Differences between males and females were observed in terms of opioid use, history of psychosis, presence of more than one indication, and the duration of previous cannabis use. Our data indicate that, in MM dispensaries of the Deep South state, there are numerous similarities—and some potentially important differences—between male and female MM patients. The importance of these differences, and the importance of continued data collection/analysis, for improving MM dispensing are discussed.
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spelling pubmed-73557642020-07-23 Comparison of Male and Female Patients in Louisiana Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Allen, H. Raymond Boudreaux, Doug Keller, Jeffrey N. J Clin Med Article Relatively little is known in terms of patient demographics, indications, previous cannabis use, or the forms and dosages of medical marijuana (MM) dispensed for patients at MM dispensaries. Even less is known in terms of how male and female patients may differ in each of these aspects. The goal of the current study was to examine each of these variables using a retrospective analysis of deidentified patient data from MM dispensaries in Louisiana. Deidentified data were analyzed from web-based pharmacist–patient consultations at MM dispensaries throughout Louisiana. Data were collected during the first 6 months following the initiation of the MM dispensing program in Louisiana. A total of 1195 MM patients (598 male/597 female) were included in the analyses. The average age of the sample was 51.9 years (±14.8) and it was composed primarily of white patients (86.7%). Males and females were nearly identical in terms of average age, race, previous cannabis use, indication profile, and MM recommendations. Differences between males and females were observed in terms of opioid use, history of psychosis, presence of more than one indication, and the duration of previous cannabis use. Our data indicate that, in MM dispensaries of the Deep South state, there are numerous similarities—and some potentially important differences—between male and female MM patients. The importance of these differences, and the importance of continued data collection/analysis, for improving MM dispensing are discussed. MDPI 2020-06-15 /pmc/articles/PMC7355764/ /pubmed/32549257 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jcm9061865 Text en © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Allen, H. Raymond
Boudreaux, Doug
Keller, Jeffrey N.
Comparison of Male and Female Patients in Louisiana Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
title Comparison of Male and Female Patients in Louisiana Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
title_full Comparison of Male and Female Patients in Louisiana Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
title_fullStr Comparison of Male and Female Patients in Louisiana Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
title_full_unstemmed Comparison of Male and Female Patients in Louisiana Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
title_short Comparison of Male and Female Patients in Louisiana Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
title_sort comparison of male and female patients in louisiana medical marijuana dispensaries
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7355764/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32549257
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jcm9061865
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