Marijuana Use and Older Adults' Self-Reported Difficulty Concentrating, Remembering, or Making Decisions

This study investigated the relationship, in adults 50 years and older, between self-reported past-month marijuana use and difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions (SDCRMD) because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition, using the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS).

We relied on a sample of 294,000 adults (53.4% female), 50 years and older, from 21 U.S. states and two territories over 4 years (2016-2019). We conducted descriptive analyses to examine the prevalence of past-month marijuana use and SDCRMD and used multivariate logistic regression to examine the association between marijuana use and SDCRMD, controlling for demographic and health-related variables.

The overall prevalence of SDCRMD was 11.0%, 95% confidence interval (CI) [10.6%, 11.5%], and the prevalence of self-reported past-month marijuana use was 7.1%, 95% CI [6.7%, 7.5%]. Of those reporting past-month marijuana use, 19.9%, 95% CI [17.8%, 22.1%] reported SDCRMD. Past-month marijuana users were 1.5, 95% CI [1.1, 2.1] times more likely to report SDCRMD than nonusers. Prevalence of past-month marijuana use was higher in states with legalization of both medical and recreational marijuana; however, prevalence of SDCRMD was not.

We found a strong, positive, and statistically significant relationship between past-month marijuana use and SDCRMD. This finding serves as an important first step in identifying the relationship between older adults' self-reported marijuana use and their difficulty concentrating, remembering, and decision-making because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition; however, additional research is needed.