Cannabis Use and Patient-Centered Care During Pregnancy and Post Partum Among People Living With HIV

Abstract

National studies 1,2 indicate that rates of alcohol use during pregnancy have remained stable in the US since 2002, whereas rates of prenatal cannabis and prescription opioid use have increased. However, little is known about changes in substance use during pregnancy and post partum in subpopulations that are particularly vulnerable to poor outcomes. People living with HIV have a higher risk of adverse perinatal outcomes compared with those without HIV infection. Substance use can further increase the risk of adverse outcomes during pregnancy and post partum for people living with HIV, including suboptimal viral control and perinatal transmission of HIV infection. Using data from the Surveillance Monitoring for Antiretroviral Toxicity Study (SMARTT) of the Pediatric HIV/AIDS Cohort Study, Yee and colleagues 3 examined trends in use of cannabis, alcohol, and opioids during pregnancy and 1 year post partum in a large sample of people living with HIV (mean age, 29 years; 64% non-Hispanic Black and 28% Hispanic) who gave birth between 2007 and 2019 at 22 US sites. Results indicated that the risk of cannabis use during pregnancy and post partum Open Access: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC-BY License. © 2021 Young-Wolff KC et al. JAMA Network Open.