| Journal | JMIR research protocols |
| Study Type | Cohort |
| Population | Human participants |
This item covers developments relevant to cannabis medicine and clinical practice. Clinicians monitoring evidence in this area should review the source material.
Older adults represent the fastest-growing group of medical marijuana (MM) users in the United States, with chronic pain being the most common reason for use. Despite this trend, scientific evidence remains limited regarding the short- and long-term effects of MM on critical health outcomes, including cognitive function, physical and mental health, and overall quality of life, in this population. To better inform clinical practice and public policy, there is a clear need for more rigorous longitudinal studies that examine the impact of real-world MM products over time. The Study on Medical Marijuana and Its Long-Term Effects on Older Adults (SMILE) is a prospective cohort study that aims to (1) determine MM’s short- and long-term effects on pain, physical, emotional, and cognitive functioning, as well as quality of life, in older adults and (2) identify MM product characteristics and patient subgroups associated with improved outcomes and side effects. This study will recruit and follo
“This is a development worth tracking. The clinical implications will become clearer as more evidence accumulates.”
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This study item was assembled from normalized source metadata and pipeline scoring.
