title: [Patient awareness about drugs prescribed after medical appointment and prescription].
abstract: Information provided to patients about medication is important for the success of the treatment, since the lack of such information is one of the main reasons why patients fail to take medicines as prescribed. The aim of this study was to verify patients' awareness about prescribed drugs distributed at the Grão Pará (Santa Catarina) primary healthcare unit after a medical appointment. One hundred and eleven patients were interviewed, seventy after a medical appointment and forty-one after drugs were distributed. Patient awareness was tested by asking questions about the name, usage, dosage, length of treatment, side effects, and precautions. After a medical appointment 28.5% of patients were classified as having a good level of awareness, 17.1% fair and 64.4% insufficient. After drugs were distributed 4.9% of patients were classified as having a good level of awareness, 87.8% fair and 7.3% insufficient. The majority of those interviewed had a low level of awareness about the use of the prescribed drugs. Results after drugs were distributed were better in comparison to results after a medical appointment, suggesting the importance of the pharmacist in informing patients about the correct use of drugs.
authors.affiliation: Acadêmicas, curso de Farmácia, Universidade do Sul de Santa Catarina, Campus Tubarão, Brazil.
authors.forename: Diony
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Oenning
authors.forename: Bruna Volpato de
authors.initials: BV
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: Carine Raquel
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Blatt
mesh_terms: D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D011307:Drug Prescriptions; D005260:Female; D057220:Health Literacy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055553:Prescription Drugs
chemical_list: D055553:Prescription Drugs