Potential therapeutic benefits of cannabinoid products in adult psychiatric disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. (August 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: McKee, Kyle A.; Hmidan, Amira; Crocker, Candice E.; Lam, Raymond W.; Meyer, Jeffrey H.; Crockford, David; Trépanier, Annie; Aitchison, Katherine J.; Tibbo, Philip G.
• Is Part Of: Journal of psychiatric research. Volume 140(2021)
• Page Start: 267
• Page End: 281
• Publication Date: 2021-08
• Subjects: Cannabis -- Cannabinoid -- Mental disorder -- Therapeutic -- Systematic review -- Meta-analysis; Psychiatry -- Periodicals; Mental Disorders -- Periodicals; Maladies mentales -- Périodiques; Psychiatry; Electronic journals; Periodicals; 616.89005
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.05.044
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-3956

Abstract

Abstract: The utility of cannabinoids and cannabinoid-based products (CBPs) as a pharmacological aid to treat psychiatric disorders in adulthood is still poorly understood despite a number of comprehensive general reviews discussing the topic. With a focus on randomized controlled trial (RCT) data, this review and meta-analysis aimed to aggregate and evaluate all current high-quality (Level-1) research that specifically assessed the effectiveness of a CBP on a diagnosed adult psychiatric disorder. The following databases, from their inception to September 2020, were included in the search: Academic Search Premier, PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE®, Web of Science™, PsycARTICLES, PsycINFO, CINAHL (Nursing and Allied Health), and Scopus. Risk of bias for each study was individually assessed using the revised Cochrane tool. Of the 2397 papers identified, thirty-one RCTs met criteria for inclusion: ten trials focused on treating cannabis use disorder, six on schizophrenia, five on opioid/tobacco use disorder, three on anxiety disorders, two on Tourette's disorder, two on anorexia nervosa, and one trial each for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, and obsessive compulsive disorder. This review finds limited evidence for the effectiveness of CBPs to acutely treat a narrow range of psychiatric symptoms. We report no evidence supporting the mid- to long-range effectiveness of any currently available CBP. In general, quality of the evidence was assessed as low- to moderate. Importantly, none of the studies discussed in this review presently endorse the use of cannabis flower as a method of treatment for any recognized psychiatric disorder. Larger, hypothesis driven RCTs are required prior to making further therapeutic recommendations.