Cannabis Use Associated With Lower Mortality Among Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients Using the National Inpatient Sample: An Epidemiological Study

Authors

Joseph-Kevin Igwe
Ugo Alaribe

Publication Date

4-6-2024

Journal

Journal of Cannabis Research

DOI

10.1186/s42238-024-00228-w

PMID

38582889

PMCID

PMC10998318

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

4-6-2024

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Post-Print

Published Open-Access

yes

Keywords

Covid-19, Cannabis, Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), Mortality, Acute pulmonary embolism, Inpatient outcomes, Epidemiology

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Prior reports indicate that modulation of the endocannabinoid system (ECS) may have a protective benefit for Covid-19 patients. However, associations between cannabis use (CU) or CU not in remission (active cannabis use (ACU)), and Covid-19-related outcomes among hospitalized patients is unknown.

METHODS: In this multicenter retrospective observational cohort analysis of adults (≥ 18 years-old) identified from 2020 National Inpatient Sample database, we utilize multivariable regression analyses and propensity score matching analysis (PSM) to analyze trends and outcomes among Covid-19-related hospitalizations with CU and without CU (N-CU) for primary outcome of interest: Covid-19-related mortality; and secondary outcomes: Covid-19-related hospitalization, mechanical ventilation (MV), and acute pulmonary embolism (PE) compared to all-cause admissions; for CU vs N-CU; and for ACU vs N-ACU.

RESULTS: There were 1,698,560 Covid-19-related hospitalizations which were associated with higher mortality (13.44% vs 2.53%, p ≤ 0.001) and worse secondary outcomes generally. Among all-cause hospitalizations, 1.56% of CU and 6.29% of N-CU were hospitalized with Covid-19 (p ≤ 0.001). ACU was associated with lower odds of MV, PE, and death among the Covid-19 population. On PSM, ACU(N(unweighted) = 2,382) was associated with 83.97% lower odds of death compared to others(N(unweighted) = 282,085) (2.77% vs 3.95%, respectively; aOR:0.16, [0.10-0.25], p ≤ 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that the ECS may represent a viable target for modulation of Covid-19. Additional studies are needed to further explore these findings.

Comments

Associated Data