Introduction: There is a temporal relationship between cannabis use and ischemic stroke in case series and one large population based study. We aimed to determine the prevalence of cannabis in urine drug screens in younger stroke patients.
Methods: Urine samples were obtained and tested for cannabis in stroke patients aged 18-55 years. The prevalence of positive urine drug screens was compared with that of the general population published by the New Zealand Drug Foundation.
Results: Forty six of 80 (58%) patients aged 18-55 years presenting with stroke/TIA had urine drug screens performed between January 2009 and January 2010. Eight of 46 patients (17%; 6 men and 2 woman) all with ischemic stroke, tested positive for cannabis . The apparent prevalence of cannabis use in stroke patients appeared to be greater than that of the NZ population in the past 12 months, with two of five (40%) patients versus 18% of the population (p>0.26) in 25-34 age group, one of eleven (9%) compared with 10% in the 35-44 year age group (p>0.5), and five of 26 (19%) versus 5% in the 45-55 year age group (p=0.026).
Conclusion: There was a higher incidence of cannabis use in younger ischemic stroke patients, particularly those aged 45-55 years. This study supports the introduction of urine drug tests as part of the routine risk factor screen for younger ischemic stroke patients. We are confirming these findings by comparing stroke patients with age and sex matched patients admitted with non-stroke diagnoses.