The frequency of hospitalizations and length of stay differences between schizophrenic and schizoaffective disorder inpatients who use cannabis

Background: The literature on the effects of cannabis use by patients with schizophrenia is variable.

Aims: To determine whether there are differences among urine-screened cannabis-only users, polysubstance users using cannabis, and nonusers on the number of inpatient hospitalizations and length of stay for patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.

Method: This study (N = 116) included patients who tested positive for only cannabis (n = 20, Group 1); tested positive for cannabis and had a history of other substance use (n = 43, Group 2); and had negative drug screens (n = 53, Group 3).

Results: Groups 1 and 2 had significantly lower numbers of hospitalizations than Group 3 without controlling for any other factors, and non-significantly lower lengths of stay than Group 3.

Conclusions: Our results do not support the hypothesis that cannabis exacerbates psychotic symptoms in patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Our study is unique in that it utilized objective urine drug screens.