Increasing Pediatric Primary Healthcare Providers’ Knowledge about Maternal Marijuana Use and its Effects on the Infant

Abstract

Background: In the United States, marijuana is widely used as a recreation substance with the highest rates of use between ages 18 to 25 years. It is the most widely used and often underreported illicit drug during pregnancy and studies suggest that marijuana use in pregnancy is increasing (Volkow, Compton, & Wargo, 2017; Conner et al., 2015). Women who use marijuana often use other drugs, including tobacco, alcohol or illicit drugs which makes it difficult to determine the specific adverse effects of maternal marijuana use during and after pregnancy and the effects on the infant (Ryan et al., 2018). The current evidence suggests that maternal marijuana use both during pregnancy and in the postnatal period remains a significantly under-recognized problem that has the potential to cause long-term harm in the exposed infant (Jaques et al., 2014). Based on the literature to date there is an imperative need to have evidenced-based education for pediatric primary care providers on identifying and managing infants of maternal marijuana use. Purpose: To develop an evidence-based education for pediatric primary care providers about maternal use of marijuana and the effect on the infant and to increase knowledge among pediatric primary care providers about the current evidence-based recommendations on maternal marijuana use and its effect on the infant. Methods: This study utilized a one group pretest-posttest educational intervention on the effects of maternal marijuana use on the infant. Participants were recruited from El Rio community health clinics in Tucson, Arizona. The entirety of this study was completed online via Prezi and Qualtrics for the pretest, intervention and posttest. Data was analyzed through utilization of descriptive statistics and paired t-test to assess the statistical significance of the results. Results: The overall results revealed that participant (n=12) knowledge significantly improved after the evidence-based educational intervention (p=0.01) with a mean score of 76.25% on the pretest and an average score of 97.25% on the posttest. Additionally, all the participants agreed that they will be able to apply the knowledge gained to their clinical practice. Discussion: The results of this study provide evidence that pediatric primary care providers had significant change in knowledge after evidence-based education was provided. Pediatric primary care providers are in a unique position to counsel women of childbearing age and parents of the known negative adverse effects that maternal marijuana use has on infants and children. Therefore, it is important for them to be knowledgeable on the current evidence-based guidelines set forth by organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics.