Primary Submission Category: Health care/services
Psychological distress and cannabis use among adults: Examining the role of usual health care
Authors: Celina Morales, Annie Ro,
Presenting Author: Celina Morales*
Background: Adults who are in psychological distress and unable to access healthcare may turn to legalized drugs marketed for stress relief, such as cannabis. This study investigates the relationship between past 30-day psychological distress and cannabis use frequency and whether location of usual source of health care moderates this relationship.
Methods: Data from the 2021, 2022, and 2023 adult California Health Interview Survey was used. The Kessler Psychological Distress Scale was used to measure past 30-day distress. Cannabis use frequency in the past 30 days was measured as 0 days, 1-2 days, 3-5 days, 6-9 days, 10-19 days, 20-29 days, 30 days or more. Location of usual source of health care was coded into five categories: (1) doctor’s office, HMO, or Kaiser; (2) clinic, health center, or hospital clinic; (3) emergency room or urgent care; (4) other place or no one place; or (5) no usual source of care. Ordinal logistic regression models tested the hypothesized relationships adjusting for covariates (age, sex, race, poverty level, marital status, insurance status, language proficiency, and year). All analyses were survey weighted.
Results: Of the 67,548 adults included in our analysis, 15% had used cannabis in the past 30 days and 8% reported past 30-day psychological distress. Experiencing past 30-day distress (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR)=1.99; 95% CI: 1.65, 2.39; p<0.001) and having no usual source of care (AOR=1.20; 95% CI: 1.03, 1.40; p<0.05) were associated with greater frequency of cannabis use. The interaction term between location of usual source of healthcare and distress were not significant. Older age, being female, Asian, Latino, and having fair/limited English proficiency were associated with lower frequency of cannabis use.
Conclusion: While psychological distress is associated with past-month cannabis use independently, the direction and strength of this relationship does not depend on the respondents location of usual source of health care.