Abstract 2241: Healthcare underutilization, healthcare mistrust, and quality of life among cancer survivors who use cannabis
Authors: Kim Sunny Jung , Abbasabad Ghader Dargahi , Clark Viktor , Hong Susan , Sheppard Vanessa B. 
Published: March 2024

Background: An increasing number of states have legalized the use of cannabis and its derivatives. As a result, marijuana use is expected to increase among cancer survivors. Research shows that cancer survivors use cannabis to manage a myriad of cancer-related symptoms, including pain and nausea. Despite this, there is limited evidence on how cannabis use among cancer survivors impacts healthcare utilization, healthcare mistrust, and quality of life among cancer survivors. Environmental scanning is needed to inform clinical oncologic outcomes as well as the benefits and risks of cannabis use among cancer survivors.

Objectives: To examine differences in healthcare utilization, healthcare mistrust, and quality of life between adult cancer survivors who have ever used cannabis and those who have never used it.

Methods: We recruited adults with a history of cancer through Qualtrics online panels for an online survey across all the states with different levels of marijuana laws (e.g., decriminalized and/or medical use only, and fully illegal and/or CBD oil only). We assessed sociodemographic, behavioral, psychological, cancer-related, and treatment-related characteristics, as well as quality of life, healthcare utilization, healthcare mistrust, and cannabis use (e.g., types, duration of use, current/ever use).

Results: Based on a total of 747 respondents, 395 were eligible and enrolled in the survey. Nearly one-fourth of participants were non-White (n=103, 26.1%), and 240 (60.8%) were female. Two hundred and forty participants indicated they had ever used cannabis (240/395, 60.8%). Of these, 35% (n=84) were current users of cannabis. Compared to individuals who never used cannabis, ever users had greater healthcare system mistrust (t(257)=2.58, p=.01), underutilized healthcare systems in the last 12 months (e.g., “..had a medical problem but never sought any medical attention about my condition” and “…did not come back for a follow-up appointment that my doctor gave me”) (t(248)=2.83, p=.005), and reported worse physical (t(260)= -3.32, p&lt;.001) and emotional well-being (t(260)= -2.36, p=.02). There was no difference between these two groups (ever users vs. never users) for functional well-being (t(260)= 1.08, p=.28).

Discussion: The present study provides empirical evidence on differences between cancer survivors who ever used and never used cannabis. Compared to never users, ever users of cannabis had greater mistrust of the healthcare system, underutilized healthcare, and reported lower physical and emotional well-being. Further studies are needed to examine how cannabis use impacts the long-term health and wellbeing of cancer survivors.

Citation Format: Sunny Jung Kim, Ghader Dargahi Abbasabad, Viktor Clark, Susan Hong, Vanessa B. Sheppard. Healthcare underutilization, healthcare mistrust, and quality of life among cancer survivors who use cannabis [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 2241.