Physicians falling down on communication over prescriptions

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

Doctors do not tell patients what they need to know about their medication, concludes a new study.
Nearly half of all Americans take at least one prescription drug and older adults may be on three or even more. But adherence is often poor, which may worsen health and lead to treatment failure along with unnecessary hospitalization. Adherence begins with the prescription, so researchers at the University of California have been trying to find out more about how doctors communicate with patients about medication.

They audiotaped physicians prescribing new medication in 185 outpatient visits and analyzed the content. They were looking for five elements: medication name, the reason for taking it, duration of use, adverse effects and the number of tablets or sprays and their frequency. On average, only three of the five elements were communicated by the doctor to the patient.

It may be that this poor communication contributes to lack of adherence. Pharmacists can fill the gap, of course, by providing more information about medicines. But other research has shown that patients who reported good communication with their doctor were more adherent to their medication. Maybe it is time for doctors to take just a moment or two to talk through a new prescription with their patients.

Source
Archives of Internal Medicine 25th September 2006 Volume 166 pages 1855-1862