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. 2022 Jun 14:3:891498.
doi: 10.3389/fpain.2022.891498. eCollection 2022.

Characteristics of People Seeking Prescribed Cannabinoids for the Treatment of Chronic Pain: Evidence From Project Twenty 21

Anne Katrin Schlag  1   2 , Michael Lynskey  1 , Alan Fayaz  3 , Alkyoni Athanasiou-Fragkouli  1 , Brigitta Brandner  3 , Barbara Haja  1 , Elizabeth Iveson  4 , David J Nutt  1   2
Affiliations

Characteristics of People Seeking Prescribed Cannabinoids for the Treatment of Chronic Pain: Evidence From Project Twenty 21

Anne Katrin Schlag et al. Front Pain Res (Lausanne). .

Abstract

Background: Prescribed cannabinoids are now legal in the UK and increasingly being used for a variety of conditions, with one of the most frequent conditions being chronic pain. This paper describes the characteristics of individuals seeking prescribed cannabinoids for the treatment of chronic pain in Project Twenty 21, a UK based real world data registry of prescribed cannabis patients.

Method: By 1st November 2021 data were available for 1,782 people who had sought treatment with medical cannabis as part of Project Twenty 21. The most common diagnosis among this cohort was chronic pain with 949 (53.5%) of the cohort reporting a primary condition related to chronic pain. Medical and self-report data on the characteristics of these patients, their health status and type/s of cannabinoid/s prescribed are summarized in this report.

Results: Of the 949 people reporting chronic pain as a primary condition 54.7% were male and their average age was 42.0 years (range = 18-84). Patients reported a low quality of life and high levels of comorbidity: people reported an average of 4.6 comorbid conditions with the most common comorbid conditions including anxiety, depression, insomnia and stress. A range of cannabinoid products were prescribed with the most common products being classified as high THC flower (48.5%). The majority of patients also reported using at least one other prescribed medication (68.7%).

Conclusions: Consistent with findings in other national and international databases, chronic pain was the most common primary condition in this real world study of prescribed cannabinoids. There was considerable variation in the types of chronic pain, comorbid pathology and in the characteristics of products being prescribed to treat these conditions. Together, this evidence supports the utility of real world evidence, as opposed to clinical trial approaches to studying the potential benefits of prescribed cannabinoids in treating chronic pain.

Keywords: Project Twenty 21 (T21); cannabinoids; cannabis based medicinal products (CBMPs); chronic pain; real world evidence (RWE).

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Conflict of interest statement

DJN is Chair of the charity Drug Science. ML is Chief Research Officer of Drug Science. AKS is Head of Research of Drug Science. AA-F is study co-ordinator of Project Twenty 21. AF, BB, and EI are members of the Drug Science Medical Cannabis Working Group. Drug Science receives an unrestricted educational grant from a consortium of medical cannabis companies to further its mission, that is the pursuit of an unbiased and scientific assessment of drugs regardless of their regulatory class. All Drug Science committee members, including the Chair, are unpaid by Drug Science for their effort and commitment to this organization. AKS is scientific advisor to the Primary Care Cannabis Network, and an executive member of the Cannabis Industry Council, both unpaid roles. None of the authors would benefit from the wider prescription of medical cannabis in any form. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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