Abstract
1. Cardiologists and pharmacists at the University Hospital of Wales collaborated to write 20 individual leaflets incorporating guidelines for a range of drugs used in the treatment of cardiology patients. The Plain English Campaign advised on the intelligibility and presentation of the information. 2. One hundred and twenty-five patients from the Regional Cardiology Unit, University Hospital of Wales were randomly allocated to receive usual verbal counselling about their drug treatment with or without an individualised drug information wallet. Two weeks after discharge from hospital patients completed a postal questionnaire to determine their satisfaction with the information about their drug treatment and their understanding of it. Forty-nine questionnaires were returned from the leaflet group and 52 from the control group. 3. The provision of written guidelines resulted in significant improvements in patients' satisfaction with their drug treatment (chi 2 = 33.3, P less than 0.001) and their understanding of it (P less than 0.001, Mann-Whitney test). Overall, patients who received leaflets were more likely to be aware of the potential side effects of their drugs but less likely to be apprehensive about them. Succinct guidelines concerning drug therapy can be assimilated by cardiology patients and provide them with a permanent record for future reference.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Anderson J. L., Dodman S., Kopelman M., Fleming A. Patient information recall in a rheumatology clinic. Rheumatol Rehabil. 1979 Feb;18(1):18–22. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/18.1.18. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Bishop J. F., Joshua D. E., Lowenthal R. M., Kronenberg H., Whiteside M. G., Cobcroft R., Dodds A., Wolf M., Manoharan A. A phase I-II study of cytosine arabinoside, daunorubicin, and VP16-213 in adult patients with acute non-lymphocytic leukemia. Aust N Z J Med. 1986 Feb;16(1):48–51. doi: 10.1111/j.1445-5994.1986.tb01115.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Boyle C. M. Difference between patients' and doctors' interpretation of some common medical terms. Br Med J. 1970 May 2;2(5704):286–289. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.5704.286. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Gibbs S., Waters W. E., George C. F. The benefits of prescription information leaflets (1). Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1989 Jun;27(6):723–739. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2125.1989.tb03434.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Gibbs S., Waters W. E., George C. F. The benefits of prescription information leaflets (2). Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1989 Sep;28(3):345–351. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2125.1989.tb05436.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hermann F., Herxheimer A., Lionel N. D. Package inserts for prescribed medicines: what minimum information do patients need? Br Med J. 1978 Oct 21;2(6145):1132–1135. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.6145.1132. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Ley P. Memory for medical information. Br J Soc Clin Psychol. 1979 Jun;18(2):245–255. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8260.1979.tb00333.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Ley P. Satisfaction, compliance and communication. Br J Clin Psychol. 1982 Nov;21(Pt 4):241–254. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8260.1982.tb00562.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- McMahon T., Clark C. M., Bailie G. R. Who provides patients with drug information? Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1987 Feb 7;294(6568):355–356. doi: 10.1136/bmj.294.6568.355. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Ridout S., Waters W. E., George C. F. Knowledge of and attitudes to medicines in the Southampton community. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1986 Jun;21(6):701–712. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2125.1986.tb05236.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]