Presentation and Short-term Course of New Onset Cannabis Induced Psychotic Disorder in Males
Deepak Cyril D’souza, Justin Raj, Suhas Ganesh, Nishant Goyal, KL Vidya, Sai Krishna Tikka, Umesh Shreekantiah, Pratima Murthy, Daya Ram, Priyamvada Sharma, Vinod Kumar Sinha, Jose Cortes-Briones
medRxiv January 31, 2022 preprint DOI: 10.1101/2022.01.30.22270138 via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractMale patients with new-onset Cannabis Induced Psychotic Disorder (CIPD) present with less severe psychotic symptoms and show greater improvement in both psychosis and cognitive deficits over four weeks of hospitalization compared to patients with psychosis unrelated to cannabis. Among 16 CIPD patients followed after discharge, 10 relapsed into psychosis within six months after resuming cannabis use. The findings suggest CIPD has a distinct short-term course with better acute resolution, but relapse of cannabis use may lead to poorer long-term outcomes. The study did not include female patients.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Prospective cohort study Longitudinal |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 119 |
| Population | Hospitalized male patients with new-onset psychosis |
| Duration | 4-week inpatient hospitalization, with a subsample followed up at 4-6 months after discharge |
| Topics | Cannabis |
| Keywords | Psychosis Psychiatry Schizophrenia object-oriented programming Cognition |
| Key finding | Cannabis Induced Psychotic Disorder presents with less severe psychosis and greater short-term improvement than psychosis unrelated to cannabis, but relapse after cannabis use is common. |
Abstract
Abstract Introduction Cannabis use has been associated with several psychosis outcomes including acute and persistent psychosis termed Cannabis Induced Psychotic Disorder (CIPD). The clinical and cognitive profile, course of CIPD, and the extent to which it is different from psychosis unrelated to cannabis exposure (PsyNoCan) is not clear. Methods The acute presentation and short-term (∼4 weeks) course of hospitalized male patients with new onset CIPD were compared prospectively to PsyNoCan using measures of psychosis, depression, mania, memory and other cognitive processes at admission, and after 4 weeks of inpatient hospitalization. A subsample of CIPD patients were followed up after 4-6 months of discharge. Cognitive test performance was benchmarked for comparison in healthy controls and individuals with Cannabis Use Disorder. Results Compared to PsyNoCan (n=53), CIPD (n=66) had a significantly lower severity of psychotic symptoms at admission but no differences in mood symptoms. After 4 weeks of hospitalization, the CIPD group had less psychosis. While both groups had significant cognitive deficits at baseline compared to healthy controls, cognitive test performance improved to a greater extent in CIPD. Amongst 16 CIPD cases with longitudinal follow-up data, 10 relapsed with psychosis within 6 months after resuming cannabis use. Conclusion CIPD in males has a distinct presentation and short-term course, characterized by less severe psychosis, and greater resolution of psychopathology and cognitive deficits relative to PsyNoCan. Relapse of cannabis use may predict poorer long-term outcomes with greater psychotic relapses. The longer-term course, prognosis and biology of CIPD, and its presentation in females needs further study.