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Attitudes of Irish patients with chronic pain towards medicinal cannabis

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Irish Journal of Medical Science (1971 -) Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

Medicinal cannabis use is topical in the media in Ireland. A recent Health Products Regulatory Authority review, however, has recommended against its use for patients with chronic pain. This is despite evidence for its effectiveness in this patient’s cohort and the inadequate pain management of these patients.

Aim

The aim of this study was to evaluate the attitudes of Irish patients with chronic pain towards medicinal cannabis.

Methods

After institutional ethics committee approval, a 12-item questionnaire (excluding demographics) was randomly assigned to patients attending a chronic pain clinic (University Hospital Limerick). The questionnaire was designed to incorporate patient’s attitudes on a variety of medicinal cannabis related topics.

Results

Ninety-six adult patients were surveyed. 88.54% agreed that cannabis should be legalised for chronic pain medicinal purposes. 80.21% believed it would have health benefits for them and 73.96% agreed it would be socially acceptable to use cannabis for this purpose. 33.33% perceived cannabis to be addictive while 68.75% would be willing to try it if prescribed by a medical professional.

Conclusions

The study highlights the attitudes of chronic pain patients in Ireland towards medicinal cannabis. It shows their desire to have medical cannabis legalised for chronic pain and that they view it as a reasonable pain management option.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate Entry Medical School, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

    Ciaran Rochford & Dominic Harmon

  2. Department of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, Limerick University Hospital, Dooradoyle, Limerick, Ireland

    Deirdre Edgeworth & Mohammad Hashim

Authors
  1. Ciaran Rochford
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  2. Deirdre Edgeworth
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  3. Mohammad Hashim
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  4. Dominic Harmon
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dominic Harmon.

Ethics declarations

The study protocol was approved by the research ethics committee of University Limerick Hospitals Group, Mid-West Region.

Conflict of interest

None.

Appendix

Appendix

Table 3 Patient’s attitude to medicinal cannabis questionnaire
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Rochford, C., Edgeworth, D., Hashim, M. et al. Attitudes of Irish patients with chronic pain towards medicinal cannabis. Ir J Med Sci 188, 267–272 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-018-1761-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-018-1761-x

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