title: Inclusion of salt form on prescription medication labeling as a source of patient confusion: a pilot study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It has been estimated that 10,000 patient injuries occur in the US annually due to confusion involving drug names. An unexplored source of patient misunderstandings may be medication salt forms.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to assess patient knowledge and comprehension regarding the salt forms of medications as a potential source of medication errors.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 12 item questionnaire which assessed patient knowledge of medication names on prescription labels was administered to a convenience sample of patients presenting to a family practice clinic. Descriptive statistics were calculated and multivariate analyses were performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 308 responses. Overall, 41% of patients agreed they find their medication names confusing. Participants correctly answered to salt form questions between 12.1% and 56.9% of the time. Taking more prescription medications and higher education level were positively associated with providing more correct answers to 3 medication salt form knowledge questions, while age was negatively associated.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patient misconceptions about medication salt forms are common. These findings support recommendations to standardize the inclusion or exclusion of salt forms. Increasing patient education is another possible approach to reducing confusion.
authors.affiliation: Covenant Cancer Treatment Center, Waterloo, IA ( United States ). At time of writing: Northeast Iowa Medical Education Foundation. Dana.Mcdougall@wfhc.org.
authors.forename: Dana J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: McDougall
authors.affiliation: Northeast Iowa Medical Education Foundation, Waterloo, IA; & Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science, College of Pharmacy, University of Iowa . Iowa City, IA ( United States ). jhoehns@neimef.org.
authors.forename: James D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Hoehns
authors.affiliation: Health-System Pharmacy Administration Resident, The John Hopkins Hospital . Baltimore, MD ( United States ). At time of writing: College of Pharmacy, University of Iowa. tara.feller13@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Tara T
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Feller
authors.affiliation: Sterling Drug. Cresco, IA ( United States ). At time of writing: College of Pharmacy, University of Iowa . novak.savana@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Savana J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Kriener
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science, College of Pharmacy, University of Iowa . Iowa City, IA ( United States ). matthew-witry@uiowa.edu.
authors.forename: Matthew J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Witry
keywords: Drug Labeling; Drug Packaging; Health Literacy; Medication Errors; Patient Safety; Pharmaceutical Preparations; United States