Associations of Healthcare Service Utilization With Cannabis Use Status, Use Reasons, and Use Characteristics Among Those Age 50 and Older

Abstract

Cannabis use has increased steadily among older adults, and they are a significant proportion of medical cannabis users. Using 2015–2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health data (n = 44,007 age 50+), we examined whether the numbers of emergency department (ED) visits and nights hospitalized are associated with cannabis use status, use reason (nonmedical-only, medical-only, and medical and nonmedical), and use characteristics. Past-year users had higher rates of any ED visit (30.0%) and hospitalization (14.7%) than prior-to-past-year users and never users. However, negative binomial regression models showed that past-year users did not differ from never users on numbers of ED visits and nights hospitalized, although they had more ED visits than prior-to-past-year users (IRR = 1.21, 95% CI = 1.10–1.34). Medical-only users had more ED visits (IRR = 1.38, 95% CI = 1.02–1.88) than nonmedical-only users. Cannabis use and use characteristics were not associated with nights hospitalized. The study findings provide insights into older cannabis users’ healthcare utilization.