Gender Differences Among Treatment-Seeking Adults With Cannabis Use Disorder: Clinical Profiles of Women and Men Enrolled in the Achieving Cannabis Cessation-Evaluating N-acetylcysteine Treatment (ACCENT) Study

Background and Objectives: Recent evidence suggests that women may fare worse than men in cannabis trials with pharmacologic interventions. Identifying baseline clinical profiles of treatmentseeking cannabis-dependent adults could inform gender-specific treatment planning and development. Methods: The current study compared baseline demographic, cannabis use, and psychiatric factors between women (n = 86) and men (n = 216) entering the Achieving Cannabis Cessation - Evaluating N-acetylcysteine Treatment (ACCENT) study, a multi-site, randomized controlled trial conducted within the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network. Results: Women reported greater withdrawal intensity (p = .001) and negative impact of withdrawal (p = .001), predominantly due to physiological and mood symptoms. Women were more likely to have lifetime panic disorder (p =.038) and current agoraphobia (p = .022), and reportedmore days of poor physical health (p = .006) and cannabisrelatedmedical problems (p = .023). Women reporting chronic pain had greatermeanpainscores thanmenwithchronicpain(p = .006). Men and women did not differ on any measures of baseline cannabis use. Discussion and Conclusions: Cannabis-dependent women may present for treatment with more severe and impairing withdrawal symptoms and psychiatric conditions compared to cannabisdependent men. This might help explain recent evidence suggesting that women fare worse than men in cannabis treatment trials of pharmacologic interventions. Baseline clinical profiles of treatmentseeking adults can inform gender-specific treatment planning and development. Scientific Significance: Cannabis-dependent women may benefit from integrated treatment focusing on co-occurring psychiatric disorders and targeted treatment of cannabis withdrawal syndrome.