title: Prospectively surveying health-related quality of life and symptom relief in a lot-based sample of medical cannabis-using patients in urban Washington State reveals managed chronic illness and debility.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To characterize health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in medical cannabis patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Short Form 36 (SF-36) Physical Health Component Score and Mental Health Component Score (MCS) surveys as well has CDC (Centers for Disease Control) HRQoL-14 surveys were completed by 37 qualified patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean SF-36 PCS and MCS, normalized at 50, were 37.4 and 44.2, respectively. Eighty percent of participants reported activity/functional limitations secondary to impairments or health problems. Patients reported using medical cannabis to treat a wide array of symptoms across multiple body systems with relief ratings consistently in the 7-10/10 range.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The HRQoL results in this sample of medical cannabis-using patients are comparable with published norms in other chronically ill populations. Data presented provide insight into medical cannabis-using patients' self-rated health, HRQoL, disease incidences, and cannabis-related symptom relief.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA. sunila@uw.edu
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Aggarwal
authors.forename: G T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Carter
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zumbrunnen
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Morrill
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Mayer
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology; D000328:Adult; D002188:Cannabis; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000379:methods*; D008517:Phytotherapy / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012494:Sampling Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014861:Washington; D055815:Young Adult