Simon Erridge, Jess Kerr-Gaffney, Carl Holvey, Ross Coomber, Daniela A Riano Barros, Urmila Bhoskar, Gracia Mwimba, Kavita Praveen, Chris Symeon, Simmi Sachdeva-Mohan, Mikael H Sodergren, James J Rucker
{"title":"Clinical outcome analysis of patients with autism spectrum disorder: analysis from the UK Medical Cannabis Registry.","authors":"Simon Erridge, Jess Kerr-Gaffney, Carl Holvey, Ross Coomber, Daniela A Riano Barros, Urmila Bhoskar, Gracia Mwimba, Kavita Praveen, Chris Symeon, Simmi Sachdeva-Mohan, Mikael H Sodergren, James J Rucker","doi":"10.1177/20451253221116240","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Cannabis-based medicinal products (CBMPs) have been identified as a promising novel therapeutic for symptoms and comorbidities related to autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, there is a paucity of clinical evidence of their efficacy and safety. Objective: This case series aims to assess changes to health-related quality of life and the incidence of adverse events in patients treated with CBMPs for associated symptoms of ASD enrolled on the UK Medical Cannabis Registry (UKMCR).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Patients treated with CBMPs for ASD-related symptoms for a minimum of 1 month were identified from the UKMCR. Primary outcomes were changes in validated patient-reported outcome measures [Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), Single-Item Sleep Quality Scale (SQS), 5-level version of the EQ-5D (EQ-5D-5L) index values] at 1, 3 and 6 months compared with baseline. Adverse events were recorded and analysed. Statistical significance was determined by <i>p</i> < 0.050.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Seventy-four patients with ASD were included in the analysis. The mean age of participants was 32.7 (±11.6) years. There were significant improvements in general health-related quality of life and sleep as assessed by the EQ-5D-5L, SQS and GAD-7 at 1 and 3 months, with sustained changes in EQ-5D-5L and SQS at 6 months (<i>p</i> < 0.010). There were 180 (243.2%) adverse events reported by 14 (18.9%) participants. If present, adverse events were commonly mild (<i>n</i> = 58; 78.4%) or moderate (<i>n</i> = 81; 109.5%), rather than severe (<i>n</i> = 41; 55.4%).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study demonstrated an associated improvement in general health-related quality of life, and anxiety- and sleep-specific symptoms following initiation of treatment with CBMPs in patients with ASD. These findings, while promising, are limited by the confines of the study which lacks a control arm and is subject to attrition bias. Therefore, further evaluation is required with randomised controlled trials.</p>","PeriodicalId":23127,"journal":{"name":"Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.4000,"publicationDate":"2022-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9500308/pdf/","citationCount":"3","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/20451253221116240","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2022/1/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PHARMACOLOGY & PHARMACY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 3
Abstract
Introduction: Cannabis-based medicinal products (CBMPs) have been identified as a promising novel therapeutic for symptoms and comorbidities related to autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, there is a paucity of clinical evidence of their efficacy and safety. Objective: This case series aims to assess changes to health-related quality of life and the incidence of adverse events in patients treated with CBMPs for associated symptoms of ASD enrolled on the UK Medical Cannabis Registry (UKMCR).
Methods: Patients treated with CBMPs for ASD-related symptoms for a minimum of 1 month were identified from the UKMCR. Primary outcomes were changes in validated patient-reported outcome measures [Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), Single-Item Sleep Quality Scale (SQS), 5-level version of the EQ-5D (EQ-5D-5L) index values] at 1, 3 and 6 months compared with baseline. Adverse events were recorded and analysed. Statistical significance was determined by p < 0.050.
Results: Seventy-four patients with ASD were included in the analysis. The mean age of participants was 32.7 (±11.6) years. There were significant improvements in general health-related quality of life and sleep as assessed by the EQ-5D-5L, SQS and GAD-7 at 1 and 3 months, with sustained changes in EQ-5D-5L and SQS at 6 months (p < 0.010). There were 180 (243.2%) adverse events reported by 14 (18.9%) participants. If present, adverse events were commonly mild (n = 58; 78.4%) or moderate (n = 81; 109.5%), rather than severe (n = 41; 55.4%).
Conclusion: This study demonstrated an associated improvement in general health-related quality of life, and anxiety- and sleep-specific symptoms following initiation of treatment with CBMPs in patients with ASD. These findings, while promising, are limited by the confines of the study which lacks a control arm and is subject to attrition bias. Therefore, further evaluation is required with randomised controlled trials.
期刊介绍:
Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology delivers the highest quality peer-reviewed articles, reviews, and scholarly comment on pioneering efforts and innovative studies across all areas of psychopharmacology. The journal has a strong clinical and pharmacological focus and is aimed at clinicians and researchers in psychopharmacology, providing a forum in print and online for publishing the highest quality articles in this area.