Med Page Today Hospitalization risk 80% higher versus nonusers.
Cannabis use was significantly associated with a greater risk of severe outcomes following a COVID-19 infection, according to a retrospective study that spanned the first 2 years of the pandemic.
Among more than 70,000 patients with a documented case of COVID at a large medical center in the Midwest, use of cannabis was linked with an 80% greater risk of hospitalization and a 27% higher risk for intensive care unit (ICU) admission after an infection, but no difference in all-cause mortality:
- Hospitalization: OR 1.80 (95% CI 1.68-1.93)
- ICU admission: OR 1.27 (95% CI 1.14-1.41)
- Mortality: OR 0.97 (95% CI 0.82-1.14)
- The elevated risks for hospitalization and ICU admission were about on par with that of smoking, reported Li-Shiun Chen, MD, MPH, ScD, of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and coauthors.
- The electronic health record (EHR)-based study, published in JAMA Network Open, also confirmed the established link between tobacco smoking and increased risks for serious outcomes from COVID. That association was observed both in current and former smokers and included a higher risk for mortality.
- “There’s this sense among the public that cannabis is safe to use, that it’s not as bad for your health as smoking or drinking, that it may even be good for you,” Chen said in a press release. “I think that’s because there hasn’t been as much research on the health effects of cannabis as compared to tobacco or alcohol.”
- “What we found is that cannabis use is not harmless in the context of COVID-19,” Chen continued. “People who reported yes to current cannabis use, at any frequency, were more likely to require hospitalization and intensive care than those who did not use cannabis.”