Abstract
Objectives
Cannabis use is associated with worsening symptoms in people with schizophrenia but less is known about its impact on mental healthcare service delivery. To investigate healthcare utilization in people with schizophrenia with comorbid cannabis use disorder using real-world electronic health record (EHR) data.
Methods
A retrospective, matched cohort study was conducted on adults with schizophrenia (ICD-10 F2*) receiving US mental healthcare services. Two groups were created: patients with comorbid cannabis use disorder (F14*) and controls with schizophrenia only. De-identified EHR data covering the previous 20 years were obtained from the MindLinc Global Database and analyzed using the Holmusk NeuroBlu platform. Patients were matched 2:1 on demographics using propensity score with a 0.02 caliper. The number of Emergency Department (ED) and outpatient visits, and psychiatric inpatient admissions were compared between cohorts over a 12 month follow-up period.
Results
A total of 19,127 patients (8.0% comorbid cannabis use disorder) were identified. Comorbid cases (n=1,507) were matched with 3,006 controls with a median age of 31.6 years (std dev: 10.7) and 76% male. Comorbid patients were 4.2% and 12.2% more likely to visit an ED (z: 3.76, p
Conclusions
Comorbid cannabis use in schizophrenia is associated with significant increases in emergency and inpatient healthcare service utilization. Dual diagnosis services could help to reduce the impact of comorbid cannabis use disorders on healthcare utilization.
Cannabis use is associated with worsening symptoms in people with schizophrenia but less is known about its impact on mental healthcare service delivery. To investigate healthcare utilization in people with schizophrenia with comorbid cannabis use disorder using real-world electronic health record (EHR) data.
Methods
A retrospective, matched cohort study was conducted on adults with schizophrenia (ICD-10 F2*) receiving US mental healthcare services. Two groups were created: patients with comorbid cannabis use disorder (F14*) and controls with schizophrenia only. De-identified EHR data covering the previous 20 years were obtained from the MindLinc Global Database and analyzed using the Holmusk NeuroBlu platform. Patients were matched 2:1 on demographics using propensity score with a 0.02 caliper. The number of Emergency Department (ED) and outpatient visits, and psychiatric inpatient admissions were compared between cohorts over a 12 month follow-up period.
Results
A total of 19,127 patients (8.0% comorbid cannabis use disorder) were identified. Comorbid cases (n=1,507) were matched with 3,006 controls with a median age of 31.6 years (std dev: 10.7) and 76% male. Comorbid patients were 4.2% and 12.2% more likely to visit an ED (z: 3.76, p
Conclusions
Comorbid cannabis use in schizophrenia is associated with significant increases in emergency and inpatient healthcare service utilization. Dual diagnosis services could help to reduce the impact of comorbid cannabis use disorders on healthcare utilization.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | S251 |
| Journal | Value in Health |
| Volume | 25 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2022 |
