Recreational cannabis use in hemodialysis patients: prevalence, chronic pain profile and impact on quality of life

Abstract Background Morocco is one of the world's leading suppliers of cannabis, primarily cultivated in its northern region. Smoked cannabis has been reported in the literature to relieve suffering. Pain is a prevalent symptom in hemodialysis patients, leading to decreased quality of life. Therefore, this study aims to determine the prevalence of smoking cannabis in male patients undergoing hemodialysis and to explore the sociodemographic, biological and chronic pain characteristics, and quality of life between users of recreational cannabis and non-users. Methods A total of 186 male patients on hemodialysis were recruited from four dialysis centers in the northern Morocco region. The Numeric Rating scale was used to assess pain severity and the Short-Form 36 (SF-36) questionnaire was adopted to evaluate the quality of life. The Brief Pain Inventory was used to locate the painful sites. Data collection utilized medical files and a structured questionnaire including sociodemographic, clinical and dialysis-related variables. Results The prevalence of cannabis use was 18.2%. Patients in rural areas and current tobacco smokers use more cannabis. Compared to the non-smokers' group, the smokers' group had less chronic pain (p = 0.002) and lower pain severity (p = 0.006). For the quality of life, significantly higher mean scores in general health, bodily pain and vitality domains (p = 0.02), (p < 0.001) and (p = 0.009) respectively, and increased physical component summary (p = 0.003). Furthermore, cannabis smokers were more Vitamin D deficient (p = 0.009) and had a higher serum concentration of hemoglobin (p = 0.005) compared to non-smokers. Conclusions Cannabis smokers were predominantly from rural areas, had a history of tobacco use and were less likely to suffer from chronic pain than non-smokers. The smoker's group had low pain severity and better quality of life compared to non-smokers. However, more research is needed to investigate the relationship of frequency, quantity and quality of cannabis on efficiency and reduction of chronic pain in patients treated by hemodialysis.