Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Apr 29:16:1141-1152.
doi: 10.2147/PPA.S361447. eCollection 2022.

Thai Patients' Drug Safety Knowledge and Perceptions Relating to Different Forms of Written Medicine Information: A Comparative Study

Kamonphat Wongtaweepkij  1 , Janet Krska  2 , Supawinee Pongpunna  3 , Juraporn Pongwecharak  4 , Narumol Jarernsiripornkul  1
Affiliations

Thai Patients' Drug Safety Knowledge and Perceptions Relating to Different Forms of Written Medicine Information: A Comparative Study

Kamonphat Wongtaweepkij et al. Patient Prefer Adherence. .

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of the study was to evaluate the medication safety knowledge, quality of the written medicine information (WMI), and perceptions of taking the medicines in patients receiving package inserts (PIs) in comparison with patient information leaflets (PILs).

Methods: A cross-sectional, comparative study was conducted from December 2020 to May 2021 at two university hospitals in Thailand. Outpatients who visited the pharmacy departments and were prescribed one of the three medicines: atorvastatin, celecoxib, or metformin were randomly selected by a permuted block randomization. The medication safety knowledge was measured using a set of validated and closed questions. The quality of the WMI was measured by the Consumer Information Rating Form (CIRF). Satisfaction with information and perceptions of the benefits and risks of medications were rated by the participants using a visual analog scale (0 to 10).

Results: Of the 1150 invited patients, 750 completed the questionnaires (65.2%). A higher proportion of respondents with high level of medication safety knowledge was found in those reading the PILs than the PIs (44.5% and 20.8%, respectively). The type of leaflet received was a significant predictor of the high knowledge level (p < 0.001). The mean CIRF scores were significantly higher among those reading the PILs than the PIs (p < 0.001). Patients reading the PILs were also more satisfied with the information and had more positive perceptions of the benefits from taking medicines and intention to adhere than those reading the PIs. Patients' perceptions of risks after reading both leaflets were moderate (median score = 5.0), with the PIL group having slightly more concern about risks than the PI group.

Conclusion: The PILs showed superior effectiveness to the PIs in enhancing knowledge about medication safety, providing greater satisfaction with the information, and positive perceptions of benefit and intention to comply with the medications. PILs should be provided more frequently to patients receiving medicines than PIs.

Keywords: consumer testing; medication safety knowledge; package inserts; patient information leaflets; perceptions of benefits and risks.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Gallagher R, Warwick M, Chenoweth L, Stein-Parbury J, Milton-Wildey K. Medication knowledge, adherence and predictors among people with heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. J Nurs Healthc Chronic Illn. 2011;3(1):30–40. doi:10.1111/j.1752-9824.2010.01077.x - DOI
    1. Ramia E, Zeenny RM, Hallit S, Salameh P. Assessment of patients’ knowledge and practices regarding their medication use and risks in Lebanon. Int J Clin Pharm. 2017;39(5):1084–1094. doi:10.1007/s11096-017-0517-4 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Perera T, Ranasinghe P, Perera U, et al. Knowledge of prescribed medication information among patients with limited English proficiency in Sri Lanka. BMC Res Notes. 2012;5(1):658. doi:10.1186/1756-0500-5-658 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Patsuree A, Krska J, Jarernsiripornkul N. Experiences relating to adverse drug reactions in the community: a cross-sectional survey among patients and the general public in Thailand. Expert Opin Drug Saf. 2016;15(3):287–295. doi:10.1517/14740338.2016.1135127 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Tarn DM, Wenger A, Good JS, Hoffing M, Scherger JE, Wenger NS. Do physicians communicate the adverse effects of medications that older patients want to hear? Drugs Ther Perspect. 2015;31(2):68–76. doi:10.1007/s40267-014-0176-7 - DOI - PMC - PubMed