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

ABSTRACTBackground: 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 dr...