Associations between neighborhood disadvantage, cannabis use, and patient-reported outcomes among patients with cancer.

Abstract

e13501 Background: Cannabis use is proliferating among oncological populations. However, research is limited on whether cannabis use, including route and source, is associated with neighborhood disadvantage and may elucidate differences in patient-reported outcomes (PROs). This analysis evaluates the relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and cannabis source and route, and their association with PROs. Methods: Analyses included 106 patients with cancer from varying levels of neighborhood disadvantage. Logistic regressions tested the association of neighborhood disadvantage with cannabis source (i.e., regulated vs. unregulated) and route (i.e., inhaled vs. consumed/other formulations). Multilevel regressions tested the association of neighborhood disadvantage with PROs (e.g., anxiety, depression, sleep quality, pain, quality of life) and moderation by cannabis source and route. Results: Controlling for covariates, neighborhood disadvantage did not uniquely predict cannabis source or route ( p ’s > .05) or PROs ( p ’s > .05). Conversely, household income predicted pain interference and severity, quality of life, and depression, indicating that lower household income was associated with worse outcomes ( p ’s < .05). Multilevel analyses including cannabis route as a moderator revealed that cannabis route significantly moderated the relationship between neighborhood disadvantage and anxiety ( b = 0.09, 95%CI [-0.01,0.2], p = .03). Inhaled formulations (vs consumed/other formulations) were associated with high levels of anxiety for patients from moderately disadvantaged neighborhoods. Conversely, inhaled formulations were associated with lower levels of anxiety for patients from the most disadvantaged neighborhoods. Conclusions: Although the composite index of neighborhood disadvantage was not associated with cannabis use or PROs, our data suggest that income and cannabis route may be key factors associated with health disparities among patients with cancer.