A systematic evidence map of the association between cannabis use and psychosis-related outcomes across the psychosis continuum: An umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
J. Groening, Emma Denton, Rimsha Parvaiz, David Losada Brunet, Aisha von Daniken, Yiling Shi, P. Bhattacharyya
Psychiatry Research November 1, 2023 DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2023.115626 via Semantic Scholar
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractCannabis use is associated with psychotic-like experiences and schizotypal traits in healthy people, and with earlier onset and relapse of psychosis in patients with psychotic disorder. However, an association with clinical-high-risk states, attenuated symptoms, or transition to psychosis in high-risk populations could not be confirmed. Whether these associations are causal has not been adequately addressed in the evidence synthesis to date. This umbrella review evaluated 32 systematic reviews and meta-analyses, assessing their quality with the AMSTAR-2 tool.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 32 |
| Population | Healthy, high-risk, and clinical populations |
| Keywords | Medicine Psychology |
| Key finding | Cannabis use is associated with subclinical psychosis states and traits in healthy populations and with earlier onset and relapse of psychosis in patients, but not with clinical-high-risk states or transition to psychosis. |
Abstract
While the legal status and public perception of cannabis are currently changing in many countries, one of the important considerations from a public health viewpoint is its potential association with adverse health outcomes such as the development of psychosis. We conducted an umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses using the AMSTAR-2 to assess the quality of included reviews. We further created an evidence map to visualize and facilitate the overview of the published evidence synthesis on the association between cannabis use and all psychosis-related outcomes and risk moderators in healthy, high-risk, and clinical populations. Overall, we found 32 systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Based on a synthesis of current evidence, cannabis use is associated with subclinical psychosis states (psychotic-like experiences) and traits (schizotypal personality) in the healthy population, as well as earlier onset and development of psychosis. An association with the clinical-high-risk state for psychosis, attenuated psychosis symptoms and transition to psychosis in this population could not be confirmed. An association between cannabis use and psychosis outcomes in patients with psychotic disorder could solely be confirmed regarding relapse. Whether causal effects underlie those associations has not sufficiently been addressed in the evidence synthesis to date.