OBJECTIVES: A large portion of individuals suffering from cannabis use disorder (CUD) also have a co-occurring mental health diagnosis. Only a fraction of those individuals complete treatment associated with their cannabis use. However, limited research is available identifying factors that may influence completion of treatment in this population. The purpose of this study was to examine associations between mental illness and sociodemographic factors that may influence treatment completion among women of reproductive age (18-49 years old) admitted for CUD.

METHODS: Data was used from the 2015-2019 Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) system which included 11,500 women living in the United States (US) who were admitted to a treatment facility for CUD (treatment naive) and had a co-occurring mental health diagnosis. Descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine associations between sociodemographic, treatment characteristics, and psychiatric comorbidities on CUD treatment completion.

RESULTS: Only 29.4% of women with co-occurring mental illness completed CUD treatment. However, women who were diagnosed with mental illness had higher odds (AOR=1.60, 95% CI 1.46, 1.75) of completing treatment compared to those without a co-occurring mental health diagnosis. Women who used cannabis daily, underwent less than 2 months of treatment, and had less than a high school education had higher odds of completing treatment for CUD. Additionally, women living in the northeastern region of the US, or those who had a referral by criminal justice or an employer were overall less likely to complete treatment.

CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence that women with mental illness were at increased odds to complete treatment for CUD and highlights several sociodemographic risk factors that may be of influence. These findings can help healthcare practitioners and public health officials tailor interventions to the unique needs of women with and without mental illness who present with CUD.