Marijuana use disorder among adults with functional disabilities—A US population‐based cross‐sectional study

Abstract

Background and ObjectivesRecent studies suggest a growing trend in marijuana use, compared to a stable prevalence of marijuana use disorder among US adults over the first 15 years of the 21st century. This study investigated the recent patterns of marijuana use disorder among people with disabilities (PWD).MethodsWe extracted a nationally representative sample (N = 209,058) from the 2015–2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health data set and examined associations by functional disability status (any disability, disability by type, and number of disabling limitations) with marijuana use disorder using a series of independent multivariable logistic regression models. We also performed trend analyses during the study period.ResultsThe prevalence of marijuana use disorder (from 1.7% to 2.3%) increased significantly among PWD between 2015 and 2019 (p‐trend < .001). PWD were significantly more likely to report marijuana use disorder (odds ratio [OR], 1.37, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.24–1.52) than people without disability (PWoD). Those with cognitive limitation only (OR, 1.78, 95% CI, 1.53–2.06) and ≥2 limitations (OR, 1.29, 95% CI, 1.10–1.51) were more likely to report marijuana use disorder than PWoD.Discussion and ConclusionsPWD had a consistently higher prevalence of marijuana use disorder than PWoD. Additionally, the level of risk for marijuana use disorder varied by disability type and number of disabling limitations.Scientific SignificanceOur study provided new nuance on disparities in marijuana use disorder between PWD and PWoD and further revealed the varied risks for marijuana use disorder across different disability statuses.