How much do ED patients know about medication prescribed for them on discharge? A pilot study in Turkey

Hospital emergency departments provide health care to patients with various ailments and illnesses. If necessary, doctors write prescriptions for patients who visit emergency departments for their use after discharge from hospitals. It is important to inform patients about their prescribed medications because compliance with the prescription plays an important role in the success of the treatment. If a patient must use more than one medication, this might result in negative drug interactions. These undesirable developments may adversely affect the treatment process and cause many unplanned patient visits to emergency departments. This study was carried out to determine patient knowledge as related to the names, dosage, frequency, purpose and course of medications given on discharge from emergency departments.

Study subjects were patients who came to the emergency department between the hours of 8 am and 8 pm during a period of 1 month. Data were collected through use of a questionnaire.

In this study, it was found that 37% of the patients (37 patients) had no knowledge at all about the prescribed medications; however, out of 63 patients, 61.9% had knowledge of when to take the medications, 57.1% knew the purpose of the particular medications, and 52.3% were aware of the appropriate dosage. Furthermore, 31.7% knew the name of the medications and 25.3% knew something about their prescribed course.

Upon discharge from emergency departments, patients should be fully and properly informed about their prescribed medications through a written document. Providing patients with information concerning the correct use of their prescribed medications enables them to use the medications appropriately, thereby increasing not only their satisfaction but also their compliance with the treatment plan. As a result, this vital information may help to decrease rehospitalizations.