Standard medication information is not enough: poor concordance of patient and nurse perceptions

This paper is a report of a study to describe patient and nurse perceptions of patient satisfaction with information about the medicines at two heart failure clinics after medication up-titration and information-giving.

Chronic heart failure is a major cause of hospitalization. Poor adherence to medications increases mortality and heart failure-related hospitalizations. To achieve mutual goal-setting (concordance) regarding medication-taking behaviours, health providers need to understand patient information needs regarding the prescribed medicines.

A convenience sample of 56 patients with chronic heart failure referred for an up-titration of medicines and information-giving about the condition and treatment completed the Satisfaction about Information about Medicines Scale at their first and last visits. Nurses completed the same questionnaire after each patient's final visit, assessing the patient's need for further information. The data were collected between 2002 and 2004.

Patient scores indicated statistically significantly more satisfaction with their information at the final visit compared with the first visit (P = 0.005). However, at the programme conclusion, nurses (n = 7) rated patients to be appropriately informed while patients reported a persistent need for further information (P = 0.011).

Further research should evaluate more advanced pedagogical strategies such as how to address patients' expectations about the effect of medicines when actual effects of the treatment are related to mortality and morbidity at the population level and may not result directly in symptom relief at an individual level.