Lesharyn Jackson
University of Miami
Co-Authors: Bria-Necole A. Diggs1, Amrit Baral1, Shay P. Hagan1, Jaya Batyra1, Waheeda Deen1, Denise C. Vidot1
1University of Miami
Background
The Herbal Heart Study is a cohort study of healthy 18-to-35-year-olds who consume cannabis and do not consume cannabis in South Florida. One of the most important aspects of the Herbal Heart Study involves the screening portion to ensure participants meet inclusion criteria to not bias the results. To date, no studies have published data on screening methods nor evidence-based revisions to screening criteria to a cannabis cohort study. The purpose of this study was to review the screening criteria at the start of the study in 2021 compared to 2023 to create South Florida’s first NHLBI-funded cohort of young adult cannabis consumers and non-consumers.
Methods
A preliminary analysis of screening and documented metrics was conducted by the screening team within the Herbal Heart Study data from 2021 to 2023 to estimate to trends in exclusions, challenges in screening methods, and to document mitigation efforts. Quantitative and qualitative weekly reporting metrics developed for the Herbal Heart Study were analyzed by the screening team via SAS for quantitative measures and via Dedoose as appropriate for qualitative measures developed by the Herbal Heart Study team.
Results
Screening data between 2021 and 2023 from the Herbal Heart Study cohort is being conducted. Inclusion criteria to the Herbal Heart Study is: Preliminary results suggest two highly prevalent themes in screen-fails: 1) tobacco/cigarette use is more prevalent than hypothesized in this population; a significant proportion attributed to e-cigarette use; 2) Routes of cannabis administration is more diverse than expected; therefore, potential participants have screen-failed due to the self-report a route other than joint, blunt, or vape as their primary route of cannabis use. An example of high prevalence for example is the self-report of dabbing as their primary route of use with occasional blunt and vape use. At the time, investigators did not create a “mixed use” category.
Conclusion
Preliminary results of an analysis of screening criteria and screen fails of the Herbal Heart Study suggest tobacco and mixed route of cannabis use as two prevalent themes in participants not meeting screening criteria for cohort enrollment.