Information needs about medication according to patients discharged from a general hospital.
OBJECTIVE
Medication regimens change during hospital admission, and these discrepancies can lead to an increased risk of patient harm after hospital discharge. Information about medication according to the patient's needs may contribute to patient safety by improvement of knowledge and adherence. The goal of this study is to explore the patient's needs on information about medication at hospital discharge.


METHODS
Qualitative, semi-structured interviews were performed with 31 patients from the pulmonology, internal medicine and cardiology departments who were discharged with at least one prescribed drug from the hospital to primary care in the Netherlands. Interviews were analysed with content analysis.


RESULTS
Patients had variable needs concerning information about discharge medication. Most patients wanted to receive basic information about their medication, alternatives for the prescribed medication and side effects. Some patients did not need basic information or explicitly mentioned that information about side effects would negatively influence their attitude towards medication. Patients preferred a combination of oral instructions and written information.


CONCLUSIONS
Information at discharge should be tailored to the individual needs of the patient.


CONCLUSIONS
In the process of providing patient information at hospital discharge, the preference of some patients for non-disclosure of information should be recognised.
Borgsteede
Sander D
SD
Department of Hospital Pharmacy, Sint Lucas Andreas Hospital, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. s.borgsteede@gmail.com
Karapinar-Çarkit
Fatma
F
Hoffmann
Emmy
E
Zoer
Jan
J
van den Bemt
Patricia M L A
PM
D000368:Aged; D054626:Consumer Health Information; D003376:Counseling; D005260:Female; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008508:Medication Errors / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D010351:Patient Discharge; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D036301:Qualitative Research; D011787:Quality of Health Care