A Study on awareness regarding prescribed drugs of patients attending outpatient departments in a tertiary care hospital of Delhi

Dr. Vikas Kumar; Dr Akanksha Rathi; Dr Panna Lal; Shalini Jain

Volume : VIII, Issue : VIII, August - 2018

A Study on awareness regarding prescribed drugs of patients attending outpatient departments in a tertiary care hospital of Delhi

Dr. Vikas Kumar, Dr Akanksha Rathi, Dr Panna Lal, Shalini Jain

Abstract :

Background: The treatment outcomes of patients attending Outpatient Departments (OPD) in hospitals are largely dependent upon the awareness of patients about the prescribed drugs. This awareness about treating drugs further affects their compliance which is guided by the communication between the doctor and patient. Objectives: To know the proportion of prescription slips that was complete. To study the level of awareness of patients attending OPDs regarding prescribed drugs. Methods: It is a cross sectional study involving 200 patients attending OPDs in a tertiary care hospital. Adult patients leaving the outpatient departments (OPDs), who could understand local language, were selected randomly and their prescription slips were screened for completeness. Further, their awareness was assessed with the help of a semi–structured and pre–tested questionnaire. Results: It was observed that of the two hundred prescription slips, one seventy three (86.5%) did not have complete instructions listed in them. However, one eighty seven patients (93.5%) had knowledge about their disease, one ninety one (95.5%) knew how to take the medicine (dose and timing), one eighty eight (94%) knew about the common side effects and one eighty five (92.5%) knew when they have to visit the doctor next. One ninety six (98%) said they knew that they should keep the medicines out of reach of children and the same number of respondents said they check expiry date before consuming the medicines Conclusions: The study reveals that the patients are being communicated the relevant information, but documentation is insufficient and should be improved.