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KMID : 1138720160420040021
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Korean Public Health Research
2016 Volume.42 No. 4 p.21 ~ p.32
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Evaluation of Understanding of Terms in Drug Information: Focused on Prescription Drugs for Diabetes and Asthma and Emergency Household Drugs
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Lee Seung-Mi
Seong Jong-Mi
Song Jong-Hwa
Suh Dong-Churl
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Abstract
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Objective: The present study was conducted to measure the extent to which the general public can understand the terms that are frequently included in medication instructions and patient packaging inserts/labels, which provide drug-related information.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was designed to simultaneously measure both the basic information of respondents and their understanding of terms. Using purposive quota sampling, a survey was conducted with 305 non-health professionals aged between 20 and 69 years, living in Seoul. Drugs that are often prescribed for diabetes and asthma were extracted from health insurance sample data. Then the understanding of medical instructions was investigated via a four-point Likert scale regarding a selected set of 100 words frequently used in medication instructions and a selected set of 100 words provided on the packaging and leaflets of emergency household drugs. An investigation of whether the participants accurately understood words indicating the preparations of drugs was carried out. Data were collected by inviting participants to the study setting and asking them to complete a self-report survey.
Results: Poorly understood words (lower than 3 points) accounted for 7% of words included in the medication instructions of prescription drugs and 24% of words included in emergency household drug instructions. Upon investigating the extent of understanding of words for drug preparations, many incorrect answers were found for “troche” (44.6%) and “slow-release tablet” (25.6%) among the routes of administration and for “buccal tablet” (73.1%) and “troche” (70.2%) among the administration methods.
Conclusion: In the vocabulary for drug information, many words are difficult for the general public to understand. To reduce medication errors and use drugs safely, drug information should be improved for easy understanding, considering the patients` health literacy.
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KEYWORD
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Medication information, Understandability, Health literacy, Drug safety
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