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Long-Term Impact of Military-Relevant Brain Injury Consortium Chronic Effects of Neurotrauma Consortium

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Cannabis use disorder contributes to cognitive dysfunction in Veterans with traumatic brain injury

Esmaeili A, Dismuke-Greer C, Pogoda TK, Amuan ME, Garcia C, Del Negro A, Myers M, Kennedy E, Cifu D, Pugh MJ. (2024). Cannabis use disorder contributes to cognitive dysfunction in Veterans with traumatic brain injury. Frontiers in neurology, 15, 1261249. https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2024.1261249. PMID: 38292293; PMCID: PMC10824930.

Main Question

In Veterans with TBI, does cannabis use disorder (CUD) increase the risk of early onset cognitive disorders including dementia?

Study Findings

Veterans with no history of TBI and CUD were the reference group. Veterans with both TBI and CUD were over 3 times more likely to have a cognitive disorder. Veterans with a history of TBI were more than twice as likely to have a cognitive disorder. Lastly, Veterans with CUD were a little less than twice as likely to have a cognitive disorder.

Practical Uses

Veterans with CUD are at increased risk of early onset cognitive disorders, including dementia. Increased risk was found in Veterans with and without a history of TBI.

Clinicians may consider alerting Veterans with CUD to the increased risk for cognitive disorder and dementia. Holistic treatment approaches are recommended to help Veterans quit cannibis use and to self-manage situations and health conditions that trigger its use.

For more information on assessing and managing cannabis use disorder

In an effort to provide the latest findings to our consumers as quickly as possible, some of these studies, while fully peer reviewed, have not been presented or published either electronically or in print. Findings are presented for informational purposes only and should not be cited or referenced until they are formally published or presented.

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The U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, 839 Chandler Street, Fort Detrick MD 21702-5014 is the awarding and administering acquisition office. This work was supported by the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs endorsed by the Department of Defense, through the Psychological Health/Traumatic Brain Injury Research Program Long-Term Impact of Military-Relevant Brain Injury Consortium (LIMBIC) Award/W81XWH-18-PH/TBIRP-LIMBIC under Awards No. W81XWH1920067 and W81XWH-13-2-0095, and by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Awards No. I01 CX002097, I01 CX002096, I01 HX003155, I01 RX003444, I01 RX003443, I01 RX003442, I01 CX001135, I01 CX001246, I01 RX001774, I01 RX 001135, I01 RX 002076, I01 RX 001880, I01 RX 002172, I01 RX 002173, I01 RX 002171, I01 RX 002174, and I01 RX 002170. Opinions, interpretations, conclusions and recommendations are those of the author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Department of Defense. / Created by VCU University Relations

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