Recruiting Marijuana-Exposed Maternal-Infant Dyads for Longitudinal Study: A Feasibility Assessment

Nayana A Sojin^1,2Rhea Parimoo^1,2Lauren A Agliano^1,2Amie Goodin^1,3,4Deepthi S Varma^1,5Bruce A Goldberger^1,6Ibrahim Tuna^1,7Reem Abu-Rustum^1,2Kay Roussos-Ross^1,2*

• ¹University of Florida, Gainesville, United States
• ²University of Florida Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Gainesville, United States
• ³University of Florida Department of Pharmacy, Gainesville, FL, United States
• ⁴University of Florida Department of Pharmaceutical Outcomes & Policy, Gainesville, United States
• ⁵University of Florida Department of Epidemiology, Gainesville, United States
• ⁶University of Florida Department of Pathology Immunology and Laboratory Medicine, Gainesville, United States
• ⁷University of Florida Department of Neuroradiology and Pediatric Radiology, Gainesville, FL, United States

Introduction: In-utero marijuana exposures are correlated with adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes in exposed neonates. As rates of marijuana use in pregnancy and postpartum reportedly increase, it is crucial to obtain conclusive, pregnancy-specific safety data through well-designed clinical research studies. The objective of this study is to assess feasibility of recruitment and retention of marijuana-exposed pregnant women for longitudinal study involving biospecimen and imaging collection. Methods: Participants self-reporting marijuana use in pregnancy and controls with no self-reported exposure were recruited from routine prenatal care in a large health-system. Consented participants completed imaging and biological specimen collections during pregnancy, at delivery, and postpartum. Proportions of collected samples/images at each data collection interval were calculated and compared for exposed versus unexposed. Results: 30 participants were recruited over 20 months: 77% (n=23) self-reported as marijuana-exposed and 23% (n=7) reported as unexposed (control). 70% (n=21) of participants completed the study (n=14 marijuana-exposed; n=7 control), while 30% (n=9 marijuanaexposed; 0%, n=0 control) completed some study visits before becoming lost-to-follow-up (LTFU). Discussion: Preliminary findings suggest that it is feasible to recruit and retain pregnant women using marijuana for longitudinal study. Although marijuana-exposed participants were more likely than control participants to miss postpartum visits, become LTFU, and require rescheduling of study visits, marijuana-exposed participants were still found to complete 68% of study visits.