Perceived Risk of Weekly Cannabis Use, Past 30-Day Cannabis Use, and Frequency of Cannabis Use Among Pregnant Women in the United States

Abstract

Background

While accumulated evidence has shown that the prevalence of cannabis use among pregnant women in the US has increased in recent years, little is known about the specific subpopulations affected. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence and correlates of the perceived risk of weekly cannabis use, past 30-day cannabis use, and frequency of past 30-day cannabis use among US pregnant women.

Methods

We analyzed data from 2,247 pregnant women 14 to 44 years of age surveyed in the 2015 to 2017 cross-sectional National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Analyses account for the sampling design. Primary outcomes included perceived risk of weekly cannabis use, past 30-day cannabis use, and frequency of cannabis use. We conducted multivariable logistic and negative binomial regression models to assess the associations between the primary outcomes and multiple correlates.

Results

Among US pregnant women, 21.6% (95% CI=19.4, 23.8) did not perceive any risk associated with weekly cannabis use, 5.3% (95% CI=4.2, 6.5) used cannabis in the past 30 days, and among past-month users, the average number of days of use was 15.6 (95% CI=13.5, 17.7). Pregnant women living below the poverty line were both more likely to perceive no risk of weekly cannabis use (aOR=1.8; 95% CI=1.3, 2.5) and use cannabis more often in the past 30 days (aOR=2.9; 95% CI=1.5, 5.7) than pregnant women within an income bracket of more than two times the federal poverty threshold. Age, race, trimester of pregnancy, co-use of tobacco and/or alcohol were also associated with these outcomes.

Conclusion

Younger age, living in poverty, early trimester of pregnancy, and co-use of tobacco and/or alcohol increased the odds of cannabis use among pregnant women. As cannabis legalization spreads and cannabis use is increasingly perceived as safe, there is a growing need for research to determine the reasons why women in the identified at-risk subgroups are using cannabis during pregnancy.

Keywords:

• marijuana
• cannabis
• pregnant women
• perceived risk
• prenatal exposure

Disclosure

The authors of this publication declare that this manuscript is based on a master thesis presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Epidemiology.³⁸ The terms of this arrangement adhere to the publishing agreement signed by the author.

Linda B Cottler reports grants from NIH and arbor pharmaceuticals, outside the submitted work.

The authors report no other potential conflicts of interest for this work.

Additional information

Funding

Financial support for this research was provided by a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) from the National Institutes of Health, grants T32DA035167 and K01DA046715. The content of this paper is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. No conflicts of interest to disclose.