Who prescribe medical cannabis in Uruguay?:
attitudes and knowledge of prescribers: a preliminar study
Abstract
Introduction: The interest in the therapeutic effects of medicinal cannabis has increased.
Objective: Conduct a preliminary study to know the prevalence and profile of medicinal cannabis prescribers in Uruguay during may-july 2022, as well as to know the clinical response obtained.
Material and methods: An observational, descriptive and cross-sectional study was carried out, through a survey.
Results: Eighty eight responses to the survey were analyzed, being twenty-one medicinal cannabis prescribers (prescribers), and 67 non medicinal cannabis prescribers (non-prescribers). The main reason for not medicinal cannabis prescription is the lack of scientific knowledge. The prescribers are concentrated in Montevideo, are older, with higher professional seniority, degree of specialization and regulatory knowledge than non-prescribers. Registered national products with cannabidiol are the most prescribed, in response to patients’ demands. The most reported therapeutic uses of medicinal cannabis is the treatment of pain, epilepsy, neurodegenerative diseases, and spasticity, most of them off label uses.
The prescribers reported improvement in their patients and mild adverse reactions.
Conclusions: The preliminar results obtained suggest that prescription of medicinal cannabis in Uruguay predominates in certain medical specialties, which coincide with their approved indications. For the most part, the indication arises at the initiative of the patients, and the most frequent was the treatment of pain, followed by neurodegenerative and oncological diseases. The perception of improvement and expectations
about the treatment were high among prescribers in the studied sample. It is necessary to conduct this study on a larger scale, continue researching the effectiveness and safety of medicinal cannabis, and incorporate its pharmacological profile and uses into medical training.
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