A Scoping Review of Observational Research on Cannabis Use for Symptom Management in HIV and Cancer: Implications for Cannabis Nursing.
Hwayoung Cho, Elena Kalina, Jianli Wu and 6 others
PMID 39603980WHAT IT FOUND
Cannabis use for HIV and cancer symptoms showed mixed observational associations.
Some patients reported benefit, but pain results were inconsistent, cancer quality of life sometimes lower, and product details were often missing.
Key findings
01Cannabis use in HIV studies was associated with perceived benefit in some patients, but several studies found no association with improved pain or pain interference.
02Cancer studies found mixed outcomes, including no difference in symptom scores or lower quality of life, and greater appetite improvement than pain relief.
03The review included cross-sectional, cohort and case-control studies; most cancer studies used self-developed or unspecified symptom measures.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only English-language peer-reviewed quantitative observational studies were included, so relevant studies in other languages or experimental designs were not captured. The review found no studies targeting people living with both HIV and cancer, so it does not address how cannabis might interact with having both conditions. Most included studies were observational, and many cancer studies were cross-sectional self-report surveys, so they show associations rather than whether cannabis caused symptom change. Cannabis product type, dose and route were often missing or variable, especially in HIV studies where only one reported these details. Symptom measures varied, with several HIV studies using self-developed questionnaires and many cancer studies using self-developed or unspecified measures. This made comparisons difficult.
Declared interests
The supplied article text does not report author conflicts of interest. The publication types list research support from NIH Extramural.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that cannabis improves HIV or cancer symptoms. This review synthesized observational studies, many cross-sectional, with inconsistent associations and incomplete reporting of product dose, route and symptom measures.