Medical Marijuana and Open Road Driving Task

Florida State University250 enrolled

Overview

Medical marijuana use among adults 50 and older has more than doubled in the past decade with exponential increases projected in this demographic by 2050, and prescription opioids are one of the most common treatments for pain management in this population. To date, no studies systematically assess driving performance in a rigorous and ecologically valid manner accounting for long-term medical marijuana use and/or the combined effect of prescription opioid use in adults 50 and older who endorse chronic or severe non-malignant pain. Further, studies examining how older adults self-regulate prescription medication use and driving behavior is limited, with none rigorously examining medical marijuana.

Study Type

OBSERVATIONAL

Enrollment

250

Conditions

Medical Cannabis

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 50 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Age 50 and older who endorse chronic or severe non-malignant pain * Resident of Florida with an active and valid Florida Drivers License * Can communicate in English * Willing and able to complete study procedures * Have active medical marijuana card for \>12 months issued by the state of Florida (MMG group) OR are race-sex match who has not used marijuana in the past 10 years with no history of daily use (NMG group) Exclusion Criteria: * Have active psychosis * Have lost or revoked driving privileges * Score of below the cut 24 (out of 30) on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) * Are a control participant who urine test positive for marijuana use and/or reports any marijuana use in past 10 years

Locations (2)

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Sum of Maneuvers Score (SMS)

A standardized score sheet with a total of 49 driving maneuvers and eight types of possible driving errors is used by the Certified Driver Rehabilitation Specialist while the participant is driving. The driving errors are lane maintenance errors, speed regulation errors, adjustment-to-stimuli errors, yielding errors, signaling errors, vehicle positioning errors, visual scanning, and gap acceptance errors. For each maneuver, a maximum score of 3 is given if no errors are committed. At the end of the driving course, the sum of the points attained is computed as the sum of maneuvers score (SMS) ranging from 0 to 147, with 147 indicating a perfect driving score (zero errors).

Time frame: One Day