Abstract
A 1 in 200 sample of the Southampton electorate was sent a postal questionnaire in January, 1984. Of the 740 adults surveyed, 443 (59.9%) returned completed questionnaires. One hundred and eighty-eight (42.4%) of those replying had been prescribed a medicine within the previous month. Two hundred and seventy-five respondents (62%) felt that not enough was explained about medicines by doctors or pharmacists. Consistent with this, was the fact that 37% were unaware of safe methods of disposal of leftover medicines. In addition, 112 of 154 (72.7%) people currently taking a prescribed medicine knew of no side-effects which could result from this. Eighty-three per cent of respondents thought an information leaflet would be helpful. Of nine items which previous authors had suggested should be included, seven were thought to be important by more than 75% of those replying. Although 54% of people wanted detailed information, 43% stated a preference for short, summarized points. We conclude that most patients need to have more information about prescribed medicines and they would welcome written leaflets. However, further work is necessary to determine the best format for such leaflets.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- 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]
- George C. F., Waters W. E., Nicholas J. A. Prescription information leaflets: a pilot study in general practice. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1983 Oct 22;287(6400):1193–1196. doi: 10.1136/bmj.287.6400.1193. [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]
- Morris L. A., Halperin J. A. Effects of written drug information on patient knowledge and compliance: a literature review. Am J Public Health. 1979 Jan;69(1):47–52. doi: 10.2105/ajph.69.1.47. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]