Patients are waking up the doctors !

Tuesday, February 16, 2009 by Milla Molgaard

Source Politiken

A new study shows that every third patient has dropped his medication for fear of side effects.

They should be helpful, but they end up scaring away many patients.

Speakers notes are nærstuderet thoroughly and fear of side effects has been given every third patient to completely abandon his medicine.

It shows a new Danish study published in weekly for Doctors today.

The fear is greater than the joy
The study is based on a questionnaire that was answered by 111 patients in a medical practice in a suburb of Copenhagen.

The conclusion is clear: The vast majority of patients read the little information about their medication labels carefully, and they nærstuderer warnings about possible adverse reactions with added interest.

In fact, the information provided on package inserts received almost one third of patients in the study to put their medication entirely on the shelf. Fear of side effects was greater than the joy of taking the medication.

Not a nationwide picture
Only just under one in five patients in the study rely on the information they receive from their physician and pharmacist, and therefore never read package inserts.

Medical Students Anna Horwitz and doctors Lene Reuther and Stig Andersen Ejdrup from Bispebjerg Hospital is sponsoring the study.

They stress that the 111 patients' responses can not give a nationwide picture of the patient compared with inserts and medicine, but the results lie close to the previous studies.

Content is difficult to understand
Speakers notes are important information for patients, but the study suggests that some have trouble understanding their content.

'A third of the patients had difficulty reading or understanding this leaflet. This underscores the importance of revising the inserts with respect to font size and language, the researchers write in their conclusion.

It is a requirement that all medicines must contain inserts with information about possible side effects.