Predictors for cannabis cessation during pregnancy: a 10-year cohort study

Abstract

The aim of this study is to determine factors associated with cannabis discontinuation, to assess the impact of mental health and addiction interventions on cannabis discontinuation during pregnancy and to investigate the neonatal impact of cannabis discontinuation. This is a 10-year cohort study in a tertiary hospital in Barcelona, Spain, including women with self-reported cannabis use during pregnancy. Main outcome was cannabis discontinuation based on biological sample testing. Secondary outcomes were neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission, preterm birth, birth weight and bottle-feeding. When cannabis use was detected during pregnancy, 32 out of 81 (38.3%) discontinued cannabis during pregnancy vs. four out of 61 (6.6%) when detected at birth (p < .001). Multivariate binary logistic regression showed that null parity (OR: 6.95, p = .011), detection of cannabis use during pregnancy (OR: 5.35, p = .018) and early detection and referral to mental health care for counseling on cannabis cessation and interventions on the first trimester (OR: 25.46, p < .001) increased cannabis discontinuation. Risk for preterm birth <37 weeks (11.4% vs. 30.8%) and NICU admission (25.7% vs. 54.2%) were lower when discontinuation. Early detection of cannabis use during pregnancy, cessation counseling with mental health interventions, and null parity are predictors for cannabis discontinuation during pregnancy.

Keywords:

• Cannabis
• drugs
• mental health
• neonatal outcomes
• pregnancy complications

Acknowledgements

We want to acknowledge Dr Judit Gil for her collaboration with the data management of this project.

Ethical approval

The study protocol was approved by the local Review Board of Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR) with the code PR(AMI)204/2021, on 30 April 2021. Informed consent was waived since this is a retrospective study, evaluating a large amount of routinely collected data, where no extra procedures/tests were undertaken for study purposes.

Author contributions

MB: conception, planning, execution, analysis and drafting of the study. MS: conception, planning, drafting and reviewing of the study. CC: execution, analysis and drafting of the study. JT: execution, analysis and drafting of the study. AHF: inception, planning and execution of the study. ESE: inception, planning and reviewing of the study. EC: inception, planning and reviewing of the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, [MB], upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

No funding was received for this study.