Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Nov 12, 2020
Date Accepted: Jul 27, 2021
The Use of Cannabinoids for Insomnia in Daily Life: A Naturalistic Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Insomnia is a prevalent condition that presents itself on both the symptom and diagnostic level. Although insomnia is one of the main reasons individuals seek medicinal cannabis, little is known about the profile of cannabinoid use or the perceived benefit of the use of cannabinoids in daily life.
Objective:
We conducted a naturalistic cohort study of medicinal cannabis users to investigate the profile use and perceived efficacy of cannabinoids for the management of insomnia.
Methods:
Data were collected using the app, Strainprint®, which allows medicinal cannabis users to log conditions and symptoms, track cannabis usage, and monitor symptom severity pre and post-cannabis use. The present analyses examined 991 medicinal cannabis users suffering from insomnia across 24189 tracked cannabis use sessions. Sessions were analyzed and both descriptive statistics and linear mixed effects modeling were completed to examine usage patterns and perceived efficacy.
Results:
Overall, cannabinoids were perceived to be efficacious across all genders and ages, and no significant differences were found between product forms, ingestion methods, or gender groups. Though all strain categories were perceived as efficacious, indica strains were found to reduce insomnia symptomology more than cannabidiol (CBD) strains (Mdiff = 0.59, 95% CI 0.36–0.81, Padj <.001) and sativa strains (Mdiff = 0.74, 95% CI 0.43– 1.06, Padj <.001). Indica hybrid strains also presented a greater reduction in insomnia symptomology than CBD strains (Mdiff = 0.52, 95% CI 0.29– 0.74, Padj <.001) and sativa strains (Mdiff = 0.67, 95% CI 0.34– 1.00, Padj =.002).
Conclusions:
Medicinal cannabis users perceive a significant improvement in insomnia with cannabinoid use and this study suggests a possible advantage with the use of indica strains compared to sativa and exclusively CBD in this population. This study emphasizes the need for randomized placebo-controlled trials assessing the efficacy and safety profile of cannabinoids for the treatment of insomnia.
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Copyright
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