Psychiatric inpatients' knowledge of medication at hospital discharge

Results of a survey of 253 psychiatric inpatients on the day of discharge from a short-stay hospitalization indicated that more than half did not know the name and dosage of the psychiatric medications prescribed for them and why they were taking them, even though they had received both group and individual medication instruction during hospitalization. Sixty-eight percent of the patients knew the names of all their psychiatric medications, but only 53 percent knew when to take them. Sixty-three percent felt that they had some understanding of why the medications were prescribed, while 37 percent said they did not know. Younger, better-educated patients who had an affective illness (as opposed to schizophrenia) were more likely to have adequate knowledge of their medication regimen. Results suggest the need for more active forms of medication education, such as supervised self-administration in the final days of hospitalization.