Patients’ knowledge of adverse reactions to current medications

Abstract

Aims Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) account for 3.2–7% of acute hospital admissions. The aim of this study was to assess prospectively knowledge of ADRs in patients admitted through the emergency department of a teaching hospital. Methods Three hundred and ninety‐nine patients were admitted on acute medical call during study periods in September 2002 and May 2003. One hundred gave their perception of the risk of ADRs using visual analogue scales, where 0 indicates minimum and 10 maximum risk. The medications studied were warfarin, proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), corticosteroids, nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and aspirin. Responses are compared against a medical control group. Results Corticosteroids were ranked most dangerous by patients (median score, 25th–75th centiles: 5.4, 2.9–8.7). Medical staff ranked NSAIDs as highest risk (6.2, 4.0–7.5). Patients identified NSAIDs as low risk (2.1, 0.7–4.9), perceiving the risk of cardiac arrhythmias and disturbance in liver biochemistry to be equivalent to risk of upper gastrointestinal ulceration and bleeding. Risk of haemorrhage was ranked as the most common ADR for warfarin by patients (8.6, 3.3–9.5) and medical staff (8.8, 7.6–9.3). Conclusions Patients underrate the risk of ADRs of their medications. While there is a good level of knowledge of ADRs amongst warfarin and aspirin users, there is a clear lack of knowledge regarding the risk of upper GI bleeding in NSAID users. Increased education may reduce the incidence of ADRs but it is more likely that it will serve to meet increasing patient expectations.

Knowledge and Attitudes of HIV Infected Patients on the Adverse Effects of Antiretroviral Medicines in Ghana

“…Importantly, more than half of these patients reported to know the AEs associated with their particular medicines and also what to do in the event of AEs. A study conducted in South Africa showed good knowledge of ART [11] but this sharply contrasted with findings by other investigators which reported poor knowledge [9,17]. The study designs were similar to what was employed in this study as knowledge was based on "patients self-report" events.…”

“…The study designs were similar to what was employed in this study as knowledge was based on "patients self-report" events. In these studies, it was evident that good knowledge of the AEs of ART supports positive attitudes in patient medication-taking behaviour [9]. All the measured socio-demographic characteristics of the study participants were found not to be associated with knowledge of AEs.…”

“…Some studies have shown that there are significant deficits in patients' knowledge of their medications and their adverse effects while others reported good knowledge [8][9][10]. Patients' good or poor perceptions on AEs result in attitudes, which positively or negatively affect the benefits of antiretroviral therapy or lead to poor compliance and discontinuation in the management of HIV.…”

Pharmacy customers’ knowledge of side effects of purchased medicines in Mexico

“…When rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis patients were asked about side effects, only 37% were well informed (Mahmud et al 1995). Irish patients who knew about side effects of NSAIDs still underestimated the risks associated with these (Cullen et al 2006). There is a paucity of studies on this topic from developing countries.…”

Patients’ attention to and understanding of adverse drug reaction warnings

“…A study by Cullen et al assessed consecutive patients (n = 399) admitted to Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, Ireland in the months of September 2003 and May 2003. 29 Patients were included in the study if they were taking one or more of the study medications, including: aspirin, proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs), warfarin, nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), and corticosteroids. Patients appropriately ranked corticosteroids and warfarin as unsafe medications, but often underestimated the risks associated with these drugs.…”