Attitude towards Usefulness of Patient information Leaflets among Ambulatory Patients
Keywords:
Attitude; Patient Information Leaflets; Package Inserts; Ambulatory PatientsAbstract
Background and objective: Patient information leaflet (PIL) is an importantly accessible source of drug information for patients. Inadequate medicine information provided to ambulatory patients remains a significant problem in Thailand. Therefore, this study aimed to assess ambulatory patients’ attitude towards usefulness of PILs and factors associated with them.
Setting and Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Srinagarind hospital and Queen Sirikit Heart Center during 3-month period. Study samples (n=500) were selected by systematic random sampling from ambulatory patients aged over 18 years old. The attitude statements were rated on 5-point Likert scale. Total Score of attitude was also classified as poor, moderate and good.
Results: Of the total 500 respondents, 54.8% were female with an average age of 45.2±14.04. Most of respondents (66.9%) had good attitude towards usefulness of PILs. In positive statements, most patients strongly agreed that PILs should be introduced by law enforcement (50.7%), and PILs helped them to use medications more accurately (49.9%). They also mostly agreed that PILs helped them to use medications safer (62.7%), and online PIL should be initiated (60.9%). In negative statements, patients frequently strongly disagreed that they did not want some advices from doctors or pharmacists after receiving PILs (41.9%). Moreover, they disagreed that reading PILs might be a waste of their time (63.0%), and PILs made them loss of confident when using medications (57.7%). Multivariate analysis showed that patients taking two medications or less have better attitude (OR 0.618, p=0.024) significantly and those ever receiving package inserts (PIs) tended to have better attitude (OR 1.971, p=0.062).
Conclusion: Ambulatory patients had positive attitude towards usefulness of PILs. Therefore, Thai health authority should support and introduce strategies to make PILs more accessible to patients.
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