Table 1.
What patients need to know about their medicines
| Knowledge | Comment and examples |
|---|---|
| The reason for taking the medicine | This will provide justification for adhering to the treatment regimen and enable the patient to explain the indications for therapy to other clinicians |
| How the medicine works | Many patients will be interested in how a medicine works and this may provide additional justification and confidence in the prescribing decision |
| How to take the medicine | This may be important for maximising effectiveness (eg metered-dose inhalers) and safety (eg bisphosphonate tablets) |
| What benefits to expect | This will help to affirm the benefits of continued adherence to the medicine if it is working and allow more rapid reconsideration of the prescription if it is not |
| What adverse effects might occur | |
| • common | This may reduce anxiety and distress, especially if there are unpleasant but short-lived symptoms (eg nitrate-induced headache) |
| • serious | This may influence the initial decision to accept treatment but also allows potentially serious adverse outcomes to be recognised at an early stage and avoided |
| Precautions that improve safety | |
| • symptoms to report | Those suggestive of emerging adverse effects might allow early discontinuation of therapy (eg sore throat related to bone marrow toxicity) |
| • monitoring required | The importance of any monitoring regimen should be emphasised (eg measurement of renal function after prescription of nephrotoxic drugs, plasma drug levels of anti-epileptic drugs) |
| • potential drug-drug interactions | The possibility of important drug interactions should be highlighted (eg warfarin) |
| • altered behaviour | Some patients might need to alter behaviour when exposed to drugs (eg photosensitivity caused by amiodarone, abstinence from alcohol with metronidazole) |
| When to return for review | The need to assess the impact of a prescription will often necessitate a review and patients should know when this will be |