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There is an unacceptable functional health literacy and understanding of medications by the patient following hospital discharge according to a study published in the Mayo Clinical Proceedings.
Researchers reviewed the charts of 172 patients who were discharged from February 1, 2006, through April 25, 2006, from the internal medicine residency service at a community-based teaching hospital with prescriptions for 1 or more new medications. Between 4 and 18 days after discharge, patients were contacted by telephone and asked about the name, number, dosages, schedule, purpose, and adverse effects of the new medication(s) and whether they could name their medical contact person. Researchers recorded the number of correct answers, patient age, and years of education.
Study findings
Of 172 patients who were prescribed medication(s) following hospital discharge, 86% of the respondents were aware that they had been prescribed new medications, but
64% knew the purpose of the medication,
64% could identify the name of the medication,
56% could identify the dosing of the medication,
22% could name at least 1 adverse effect, and
11% could recall being told of any adverse effects.
There was no association between the number of correctly answered questions and years of education, time between discharge and survey, or number of new medications
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