Prevalence of cannabis and medication use by indices of residential urbanicity and deprivation among Ohio cancer patients

TL;DR

The study found that cancer patients in more socially disadvantaged areas in Ohio are more likely to use cannabis and opioids for symptom management.

Contribution

The study links social deprivation and urbanicity with cannabis and opioid use among cancer patients.

Findings

Patients in higher deprivation areas reported higher cannabis and opioid use.

No differences were found in benzodiazepine use or by urbanicity.

More research is needed to confirm these patterns and explore health equity.

Abstract

There is increasing interest in the use of cannabis products to alleviate symptom burden among cancer patients. Although data remain limited, some evidence suggests that state legalization of cannabis is associated with reduced opioid use. Indices of area-level social determinants of health may provide insights into the patterns of symptom-managing behaviors in the context of health equity.

Residential ZIP codes from 854 Ohio residents diagnosed with invasive cancer at an academic cancer center were used to assign rural–urban commuting area (RUCA) codes and social deprivation index (SDI) values. RUCA was categorized as metropolitan and non-metropolitan, and SDI was dichotomized at the median. Participants completed a one-time cannabis-focused questionnaire which included items on medications used to alleviate symptoms.

The prevalence of self-reported cannabis (19% vs. 13%) and opioid use (30% vs. 21%) were higher among patients living in areas of higher social disadvantage vs. lower. No differences were observed for use of benzodiazepines or for any product by residential urbanicity.

Larger, multi-institutional studies with detailed measurement of cannabis and medications and an increased capacity to examine additional social determinants of health are needed to confirm and explain these descriptive findings.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10552-025-01972-x.