title: Medicinal and recreational marijuana use among HIV-infected women in the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) cohort, 1994-2010.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Despite the major benefits of effective antiretroviral therapy on HIV-related survival, there is an ongoing need to help alleviate medication side effects related to antiretroviral therapy use. Initial studies suggest that marijuana use may reduce HIV-related symptoms, but medical marijuana use among HIV-infected individuals has not been well described.
  
  
  METHODS
  The authors evaluated trends in marijuana use and reported motivations for use among 2776 HIV-infected women in the Women's Interagency HIV Study between October 1994 and March 2010. Predictors of any and daily marijuana use were explored in multivariate logistic regression models clustered by person using generalized estimating equation. In 2009, participants were asked if their marijuana use was medical, "meaning prescribed by a doctor," or recreational, or both.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Over the 16 years of this study, the prevalence of current marijuana use decreased significantly from 21% to 14%. In contrast, daily marijuana use almost doubled from 3.3% to 6.1% of all women and from 18% to 51% of current marijuana users. Relaxation, appetite improvement, reduction of HIV-related symptoms, and social use were reported as common reasons for marijuana use. In 2009, most marijuana users reported either purely medicinal use (26%) or both medicinal and recreational usage (29%). Daily marijuana use was associated with higher CD4 cell count, quality of life, and older age. Demographic characteristics and risk behaviors were associated with current marijuana use overall but were not predictors of daily use.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study suggests that both recreational and medicinal marijuana use are relatively common among HIV-infected women in the United States.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. gdsouza@jhsph.edu
authors.forename: Gypsyamber
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dʼsouza
authors.forename: Pamela A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Matson
authors.forename: Cynthia D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Grady
authors.forename: Shadi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nahvi
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Merenstein
authors.forename: Kathleen M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Greenblatt
authors.forename: Pam
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Burian
authors.forename: Tracey E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Wilson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000009:adverse effects; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008385:Marijuana Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000639:trends; D055118:Medication Adherence; D008875:Middle Aged; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents