American Family Physician - Study finds many patients misunderstand prescription drug labels
Research in the December issue of Annals of Internal Medicine shows that even the most compliant patients may misunderstand–and thus fail to follow–instructions printed on their medication bottles. According to the article, “Literacy and Misunderstanding Prescription Drug Labels,” as many as 48 percent of patients may not understand how to take their prescription medications, even if they can read the words on the label.
Researchers asked 395 patients to read and interpret the prescription labels for five commonly prescribed medications–amoxicillin, trimethoprim, guaifenesin, felodipine, and furosemide. Of the 1,975 responses obtained for the five labels, 374 were incorrect, and 46.3 percent of patients misunderstood one or more of the prescription label instructions. For more information, visit http://www. annals.org/cgi/content/full/0000605-200612190-00144v1 or http://www.aafp.org/news-now/clinical-care-research/ 20061206labelliteracy.html.
COPYRIGHT 2007 American Academy of Family Physicians
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning
