Nürnberg, Germany: Plant-derived cannabis extracts containing standardized percentages of CBD and THC are more effective and tolerable than dronabinol (synthetic oral THC) in older pain patients, according to data published in the Journal of Pain Research.
German researchers assessed the efficacy of CBD-dominant extracts versus dronabinol in matched cohorts of 484 elderly (age 65 or older) patients with either chronic or refractory pain conditions. Study participants consumed the products for 24 weeks.
Both treatments were associated with “clinically relevant improvements” in patients’ pain disability, sleep, quality of life, psychological well-being, and use of analgesics. However, patients consuming plant-derived extracts exhibited greater overall levels of improvement. Participants taking dronabinol were also more likely to drop out of the study.
The study’s authors concluded: “To our knowledge, [this study] represents the first large real-world evaluation of oral cannabis-based medicines (CBM) specifically in older patients with chronic pain. Over a 24-week observation period, both CBD > THC and THC/DRO [dronabinol] therapies were associated with clinically relevant improvements. … However, the extent of improvement and the rates of ADR [adverse drug reaction]-related discontinuations differed between the two treatment groups, with CBD > THC being associated with more favorable outcomes. These findings expand the limited evidence based on the use of CBM in elderly patients and complement previous clinical and observational studies on cannabinoids in pain medicine.”
Survey data finds that seniors are increasingly turning to cannabis, typically for medical purposes. Most older adults acknowledge holding positive perceptions about cannabis, and several recent studies show that its use is frequently associated with quality of life improvements among seniors.
Full text of the study, “CARE – A retrospective, dual-cohort, 24-week real-world study from the German pain E-registry on the effectiveness and safety of CBD-dominant oral cannabis extracts versus THC/dronabinol in older patients with chronic pain,” appears in the Journal of Pain Research. Additional information is available from the NORML Fact Sheet, ‘Cannabis Use by Older Populations.’