title: [Pharmacies' information pamphlets--what use are they to the patients?].
abstract: Information pamphlets about certain drugs on prescription have been distributed to patients by Norwegian pharmacies since 1985. A questionnaire distributed to 500 patients, answered by 48.2%, showed that most patients liked to receive the pamphlets and 85.5% found them useful. However, it was difficult to evaluate the influence of the pamphlets on the patients compliance with instructions on how to use the drug. Many patients found the pamphlets difficult to understand. Most problems were connected with interactions with other drugs etc. Only 8.3% of the patients thought that other drugs might interact with the drug prescribed. The pamphlets were only one of several sources of information to the patients. The study showed that physicians informed the patients more about the effects (67.2%) than about the side-effects (49.4%) of drugs. Only 47.7% of the patients had received the pamphlets earlier. However, this percentage varied for the three participating pharmacies, being 20.2, 62.2 and 78.0% respectively.
authors.affiliation: Apoteket Renen, Tromsø.
authors.forename: S B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Strøm
mesh_terms: D004346:Drug Information Services; D006801:Humans; D009664:Norway; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D010594:Pharmacies
vernacular_title: Apotekenes utleveringssedler--hvilken nytte har pasientene av dem?