Burden of Persistent Vomiting With Cannabis Use Disorder: Report From 55,549 Hospitalizations in the United States

Abstract

Background: With increase in incidence rate of persistent vomiting (PV) in the post-legalization period it is important to understand adverse effects of cannabis use and its relationship with PV.

Objective: We investigated the relationship between cannabis use disorder (CUD) and PV-related hospitalization.

Methods: A Nationwide Inpatient Sample was analyzed from 2010 to 2014 for patients (aged 15-54 y) with a primary diagnosis of PV (N = 55,549), and a comparison was made between patients with the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Edition classification of CUD versus non-CUD cohorts. We used logistic regression to study the odds ratio between CUD and PV.

Results: The number of PV-related hospitalizations with CUD had a significantly increased trend (P < 0.001), with a 286% increase over 5 years. A higher proportion of these patients with CUD were younger (15-24 y), female, and African American/Hispanic. In regression analysis, cannabis was associated with a seven-fold higher odds (95% confidence interval: 6.931-7.260) of PV-related hospitalization.

Conclusions: This study found that CUD was independently associated with a 609% increased likelihood of PV-related hospitalization, and this association persisted even after adjusting for known risk factors and other substances.

Keywords: CHS; cannabinoids; cannabis use; hospitalization; hyperemesis; persistent vomiting.