ASX-LISTED Little Green Pharma Limited has hailed the initial results of a new Australian clinical study which has found the use of medicinal cannabis led to significant improvements on patient quality of life.
The Quality of Life Evaluation Study (QUEST) Initiative shows "very strong evidence of clinically meaningful improvements" for those suffering health-related quality of life and fatigue issues, with the peer-reviewed findings published this morning in the open-access PLOS ONE journal.
QUEST is one of the world's largest longitudinal clinical studies on medicinal cannabis, with the research supported by Little Green Pharma and led by the University of Sydney.
Adult patients in Australia who were newly prescribed medicinal cannabis for health conditions such as chronic pain, fatigue, sleep, depression and anxiety between Nov 2020 and Dec 2021 were invited to participate in the study.
A total of 2,327 people aged between 18 and 97 years participated, with 63% of them being female and patients recruited across six states by 120 independent doctors.
The most common conditions being treated were chronic pain (69%), sleep disorders (23%), anxiety (22%) and anxiety/depression (11%), with half of the patients being treated for more than one condition.
The results from the first three months of patients using medicinal cannabis found very strong evidence of clinically meaningful improvements in health-related quality of life and fatigue across all health conditions assessed.
Good results were reported for pain, moderate-to-severe anxiety and depression, however the three month results for those patients assessed for sleep disorders found no change despite very strong evidence of statistical improvement in feelings of fatigue.
The study was supported by not-for-profit private health insurance provider Health Insurance Fund of Australia and guided by an experienced advisory group, with the next step involving analysis of 12-month results to see if improvements are maintained over the longer term.
A range of national bodies endorsed the project such as MS Research Australia, Chronic Pain Australia, Arthritis Australia and Epilepsy Australia.
Little Green Pharma Head of Research & Innovation, Dr Leon Warne, said the initial results were highly encouraging.
"As well as the medical benefits to patients, this study was able to provide access to experienced providers and more affordable medication," he said.
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