Patient Information Needs During Ambulatory Medication Changes: A Qualitative Study

We performed interviews with patients and caregivers to explore whole-person, whole-regimen information needs at times of routine outpatient medication changes. We categorized information needs in this relatively unstudied context and identified which needs were commonly recognized as insufficiently met.

We explored the content of the semi-structured interviews, which involved nine patients and two caregivers of pediatric patients, all of whom experienced a recent medication change in the outpatient setting of a large urban academic healthcare system. We used inductive thematic analysis to organize information needs into categories to identify key information gaps.

We identified five categories of patient information needs: (1) medication self-administration, (2) clinical reasoning informing the medication change, (3) pre-medication change expectations, (4) post-medication change behaviors, and (5) patient role and responsibilities in safe medication management. Through these categories, we highlighted five themes from which participants frequently described receiving insufficient information: (1) medication history, (2) anticipatory guidance about possible adverse effects, (3) self-monitoring and self-managing instructions, (4) safe information seeking, and (5) safe disposal of surplus medications.

Our findings illustrate patient information needs at times of ambulatory medication changes and identify vulnerabilities where these needs may be insufficiently met. Providing tailored information at times of ambulatory medication changes might support patient engagement with medication safety practices and ultimately reduce patient harm associated with adverse medication events. Further research is needed to confirm these gaps in larger studies and examine this question within special populations, including pediatric caregivers and patients with limited English proficiency.