Improving medicine usage through patient information leaflets in India.
The impact of patient information leaflets (PILs) was measured in an outpatient department of a large tertiary care public health facility in India. Patients were allocated to control (114) or intervention group (118). Patients in the intervention group received PILs. The primary indicators [mean +/- standard deviation (SD)] improved significantly in the intervention group compared with the control group (15.7 +/- 7.3 versus 12.2 +/- 5.4). A three-fold (P < 0.01) increase in the awareness of the supplementary scores was observed in the intervention group (9.5 +/- 5.2 versus 3.3 +/- 2.7) compared with the control group (3.5 +/- 2.8 versus 3.5 +/- 2.8). Confounding variables, viz. age, sex, literacy level, did not influence the patients' knowledge. When the number of drugs prescribed increased, the patient's knowledge decreased significantly (P < 0.0001). PILs provided to the patients by the pharmacist significantly improved knowledge about medication, and improved compliance at home.
Gupta
Usha
U
Department of Pharmacology, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, India. usha_gupta2@yahoo.com
Sharma
Sangeeta
S
Sheth
Prafull D
PD
Jha
Jeevan
J
Chaudhury
Ranjit Roy
RR
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D033181:Information Dissemination; D008297:Male; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D011446:Prospective Studies
D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations