Episode 4: Recent Cannabis Use and Nightly Sleep Duration in Adults

BMJ talk medicine

There is much political, professional, and cultural debate around the impact that cannabinoids, good or bad, have on health and wellbeing. This month’s “RAPM Focus,” evaluates the relationship between cannabis use and sleep patterns among adult Americans. Editor-in-Chief Brian Sites, MD, interviews authors Calvin Diep, MD, and Karim Ladha, MD, on the paper “Recent cannabis use and nightly sleep duration in adults: a population analysis of the NHANES from 2005 to 2018,” first published in December 2021 (https://rapm.bmj.com/content/47/2/100). The study used observational data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and examined whether recent use of cannabinoids impacted on incidence of too little sleep or too much sleep. Dr. Diap is a second-year resident in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the University of Toronto. He is also enrolled in the clinician investigator program and will be starting his graduate studies at the Institute of Health Policy Management at the University of Toronto. His research interests lie in using clinician epidemiological methods to study patient-centered outcomes in the perioperative period, such as pain and disability, as well as opioid and cannabinoid use patterns at population levels. Dr. Ladha is a clinician scientist and staff anesthesiologist at St. Michael’s Hospital at the University of Toronto. He received his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He then completed his anesthesia training at the Massachusetts General Hospital and obtained a master’s degree in clinical epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health. His research uses mixed methodologies to obtain a multi-faceted view of pain and recovery after surgery, including retrospective analyses of administrative databases and prospective observational studies in multi-center randomized controlled trials. *The purpose of this podcast is to educate and to inform. The content of this podcast does not constitute medical advice, and it is not intended to function as a substitute for a healthcare practitioner’s judgement, patient care, or treatment. The views expressed by contributors are those of the speakers. BMJ does not endorse any views or recommendations discussed or expressed on this podcast. Listeners should also be aware that professionals in the field may have different opinions. By listening to this podcast, listeners agree not to use its content as the basis for their own medical treatment or for the medical treatment of others. Podcast and music produced by Dan Langa. Find us on Twitter @RAPMOnline.