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Title: | A retrospective analysis of cannabis use in a cohort of mentally ill patients in Sri Lanka and its implications on policy development |
Authors: | Rodrigo, C. Welgama, S. Gunawardana, A. Maithripala, C. Jayananda, G. Rajapakse, S. |
Issue Date: | 2010 |
Citation: | Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy. 2010 Jul 8;5:16 |
Abstract: | BACKGROUND: Several epidemiological studies have shown that cannabis; the most widely used illegal drug in the world, is associated with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD). AIMS: To assess the characteristics of cannabis use and its association with SSD in a cohort of psychiatrically ill patients and discuss the implications for policy development METHODS: This is a retrospective analytical study of a cohort of psychiatric patients who received treatment in the psychiatry unit of the Provincial General Hospital, Ratnapura, Sri Lanka over five years (2000 - 2004). The schizophrenia spectrum disorders defined in this article include schizophrenia and the schizoaffective disorders. RESULTS: A total of 3644 patient records were analyzed. The percentage of self reported life time cannabis (LTC) use was 2.83% (103, all males). Sixteen percent (576) of the total cohort was diagnosed with SSD by 2009. Male sex and LTC use were significantly associated with SSD (p < 0.01 and 0.001 respectively). In the majority (91.5%), cannabis use preceded the diagnosis. There were 17(16.5%) patients diagnosed as cannabis induced psychosis and 7 (41.2%) of them were subsequently diagnosed as SSD. This group was significantly more likely to have had a past psychiatric consultation, but other demographic and clinical correlates did not differ from the rest of the LTC users. CONCLUSIONS: Self reported LTC use was strongly associated with being diagnosed with SSD. However we could not identify a particular subgroup of users that are at increased risk to recommend targeted primary prophylaxis. The policy implications of this observation are discussed. |
URI: | http://archive.cmb.ac.lk:8080/xmlui/handle/70130/449 |
Appears in Collections: | Department of Clinical Medicine |
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