Knowledge of prescribed drugs among primary care patients

Background: Patients’ knowledge of their pharmacotherapy impacts the correct use of their drugs and, consequently, is paramount to the effectiveness of the prescribed treatment.Methods:Exit surveys administered to a representative sample of 1221 adult patients (≥18 years) from pharmaceutical services at primary care in a health pole municipality (234,937 inhab.) from the midwest macrorregion in Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Data on medical prescriptions and dispensed medications were collected and one of the prescribed drugs was randomly selected for analysis. Patients’ responses to the following itens: drug name, dosage, frequency of administration, indication, directions of use, treatment duration, warnings (patient’ attitudes when doses are missed, contraindications, side effects and interactions) were compared with prescription and/or literature and scored. Subsequently an overall level of knowledge index was constructed with the following cutoff points: less than 8 points (insufficient), 8 to 10 points (regular) and 11 points or more (good). Results:The level of knowledge of pharmacotherapy was considered insufficient for 30.8% of the patients, regular for 64.0% and good for 5.2% of them. Misinformation was more concentrated on warnings (side effects (96.3%), interactions (91.0%), missed doses (71.1%)) and indication (53.5%). Conclusion:The low level of treatment knowledge indicates the need for investment on redirecting patients’ counseling and monitoring work practices among primary care professionals.