Cannabis is a plant that has been in use for thousands of years. It is often perceived as an illegal drug, as it still classified, as such according to the Slovenian legislation, but its therapeutic effect is also increasingly recognized. It is used for the relief of various skin conditions, for treatment of epilepsy, relief of chronic pain, nausea and vomiting, neurodegenerative diseases, and even its effect on cancer treatment is being investigated.
In a cross-sectional study, we evaluated the prevalence of cannabis use for self-medication using a questionnaire filled out by oncology patients being treated at the University Clinic Golnik. The content of the questionnaire was divided into two parts. In the first part, we focused on the use of cannabis for self-medication, while in the second part, we collected sociodemographic data. Before the start of the research, we pilot tested the questionnaire on a random sample of 10 people, which helped us optimise the questionnaire. After 7 weeks of surveying, we obtained 127 validly completed questionnaires.
The results were processed with descriptive and inferential statistics in the SPSS program. By analysing sociodemographic data, we found that almost a quarter of the surveyed oncology patients use cannabis for self-medication, slightly more often women than men users, with an average age of 60. The majority of users have completed high school or vocational school, and have been diagnosed with cancer for less than 6 months and receive chemotherapy treatment. Most common side effects of cancer treatment that they experienced were nausea or vomiting and lack of appetite. With the chi-square test, we found statistically significant dependence between the start of cannabis use and the subsequent use of cannabis during cancer therapy. At the same time, we also found a statistically significant dependence between the perceived positive effects of cannabis use and frequency of cannabis use. Using logistic regression, we determined whether oncology patients, who use cannabis, differ from those who do not use cannabis for self-medication according to sociodemographic data. We found that the time that has passed since diagnosis predicts the use of cannabis, which means that oncology patients who have recently been diagnosed with cancer use cannabis more often for self-medication. The results of the research must be interpreted critically due to the subjective perception and lack of knowledge of the patients. Further research in this area is necessary.
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