Assessing the Patient Perspective on Marijuana Use During Pregnancy

Authors' Affiliations

Kaley Hankins, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University Isabel Guhde, Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University Martin Olsen, MD, Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University

Location

Culp Center Ballroom

Start Date

4-25-2023 9:00 AM

End Date

4-25-2023 11:00 AM

Poster Number

102

Faculty Sponsor’s Department

Obstetrics & Gynecology

Name of Project's Faculty Sponsor

Martin Olsen

Classification of First Author

Medical Student

Competition Type

Competitive

Type

Poster Presentation

Project's Category

Reproductive System

Abstract or Artist's Statement

It has been noted that many pregnant women in East Tennessee are THC+ during routine urine drug screenings and/or at the time of delivery despite associations between poor fetal health outcomes both at delivery and neurodevelopmentally later in life. The purpose of this study is to assess beliefs and reasons for marijuana use during pregnancy, informational sources that influence beliefs, likelihood of use in future pregnancies, comfort level in talking with doctors, and associations with age, prior tobacco and/or prior marijuana use. Anonymous surveys consisting of 13 simple questions were distributed to female patients 18+ at three regional university-affiliated clinics. Of the 165 respondents, women less than 40 were three times more likely to perceive marijuana use while pregnant as safe and three times more likely to have used while pregnant. Patients with a history of both marijuana and tobacco use were more likely than any other category of respondents to perceive marijuana use during pregnancy as safe and to have plans to use in future pregnancies. The highest reasons for usage were nausea or vomiting (44%) and anxiety (44%). 45% of respondents felt comfortable talking with their doctors about marijuana use in pregnancy. Patients cited “family and friends (21%), “scientific articles “(21%), and “other” (24%) as sources of information on this subject. These results demonstrate an increased need for research and public information dissemination regarding marijuana use in pregnancy, as well as improving the physician-patient relationship to encourage evidence-based methods to relieve medical complaints during pregnancy.

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Apr 25th, 9:00 AM Apr 25th, 11:00 AM

Assessing the Patient Perspective on Marijuana Use During Pregnancy

Culp Center Ballroom

It has been noted that many pregnant women in East Tennessee are THC+ during routine urine drug screenings and/or at the time of delivery despite associations between poor fetal health outcomes both at delivery and neurodevelopmentally later in life. The purpose of this study is to assess beliefs and reasons for marijuana use during pregnancy, informational sources that influence beliefs, likelihood of use in future pregnancies, comfort level in talking with doctors, and associations with age, prior tobacco and/or prior marijuana use. Anonymous surveys consisting of 13 simple questions were distributed to female patients 18+ at three regional university-affiliated clinics. Of the 165 respondents, women less than 40 were three times more likely to perceive marijuana use while pregnant as safe and three times more likely to have used while pregnant. Patients with a history of both marijuana and tobacco use were more likely than any other category of respondents to perceive marijuana use during pregnancy as safe and to have plans to use in future pregnancies. The highest reasons for usage were nausea or vomiting (44%) and anxiety (44%). 45% of respondents felt comfortable talking with their doctors about marijuana use in pregnancy. Patients cited “family and friends (21%), “scientific articles “(21%), and “other” (24%) as sources of information on this subject. These results demonstrate an increased need for research and public information dissemination regarding marijuana use in pregnancy, as well as improving the physician-patient relationship to encourage evidence-based methods to relieve medical complaints during pregnancy.