Page 20 - Delaware Medical Journal - January/February 2021
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TABLE 1: Clinical Study Group Characteristics (n = 81)
VARIABLE
VALUE
PERCENTAGE (%)
Gender
Male
33
40.7
Female
48
59.3
Age
Mean (SD)
55.4 (10.9)
–
MME Before Cannabis Certification
Mean (SD)
47.1 (49.5)
–
MME After Cannabis Certification
Mean (SD)
35.07 (42.4)
–
Change in MME
Mean (SD)
-12.3 (22.2)
-32.4 (36.2)
Region of Pain
Lower Back
61
75.3
Neck
29
35.8
Knee
14
17.3
Other
21
25.9
The most common regions of pain that patients were receiving treatment for were lower back and neck.
RESULTS
Demographics
Data from a total of 81 patients were examined in this cohort study. Key characteristics of the patients included, prior to outlier detection, are listed in Table 1. Thirty-three patients (40.7%) were male and 48 (59.3%) were female. The mean age
of all patients was 55.4 years, with a standard deviation of 10.9. The most common regions of pain that patients were receiving treatment for were lower back (75.3%) and neck (35.8%). Here, It is important to note that patients may have reported pain in more Table 1. The average change in MME for all patients was -12.3 MME units, with a standard deviation of 22.2 MME units.
Findings
After removal of a single data point through Grubbs’ test outlier detection, a Kolmogorov–Smirnov test displayed that the change in MME across the entire sample was not normally distributed (D = 0.212, p < 0.01). Using a Mann-Whitney U test at the 0.05 between the average change in MME for male and female patients (z = -0.337, p = 0.728, p > 0.05). (Figure 1)
Likewise, linear regression suggested no meaningful correlation between age and percentage change in MME with 2 value of 0.001 (p = 0.804). (Figure 2)
Using a Wilcoxon signed-rank test, the results displayed that the change in MME across the entire sample was highly statistically in prescribed opioid use was found to be -12.3 MME units
when including all individuals. For non-outlier individuals with positive baseline opioid use before receiving medical cannabis was found to be -31.3%. Examining subgroups based upon pain location, individuals with low back pain (n = 58) displayed a 29.4% decrease in MME units, while individuals with neck pain (n = 27) were observed to have a 41.5% decrease in opioid use. Similarly, individuals with knee pain (n = 14) reduced their opioid use by 32.6%. (Figure 3)
FIGURE 1
Distribution of the change in MME after medical cannabis certification (n = 80)
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Del Med J | January/February 2021 | Vol. 93 | No. 1
