The labelling of dispensed medicines for the elderly patient: a pilot survey

The problems that elderly patients encounter when managing their own drugs were approached from the point of view of the understanding that these patients have of the labels on dispensed medicines. Thirty medically qualified volunteers at Burton District Hospital Centre were used to evaluate the adequacy of the present handwritten, labelling system for elderly out-patients by the use of a questionnaire. Further, by means of structured interviews with thirty elderly out-patients and a discriminating test procedure, the proposed, new, typed, labelling system was compared with two other labelling systems, the ability of the patients to understand the labels determined and the efficiency of the proposed, new system tested. The trends indicated by this pilot survey are that the present system of handwritten labels is inadequate and inefficient. Medical staff may repeatedly go over instructions and patients identify their drugs by means other than the label. Regardless of the quality of the label the regimen for a particular patient often determines the necessity for repeat instructions. Further, the proposed, typed, labelling system was ranked last by staff and patients when compared with two other systems (Ladywell and Thomas). The ability of patients to understand typed labels was very low. A new labelling system based on these trends is proposed.