服薬指導用語に対する中学生・医療系学生の理解度

Abstract

To analyze the students' levels of knowledge of technical terms in taking medicines and to utilize the results for drug education in the future, we gave a questionnaire to students of junior-high (n=322), nursing (n=84), paramedical (n=197) and medical (n=151) schools in Yonago City, Japan, in 2002. The students were requested to fill out on the unsigned self-entry type questionnaire asking the meanings of 20 technical terms and 4 words about social common sense.The number of correct answers for “generics” and “over the counter (OTC) drugs” was small in all subjects. Often reported in the mass media, both terms are within the category of social common sense. Students who are future specialists in medical care should pay more attention to both terms, which seemed to be taught evenin college lectures. The ratio of correct answers (mean±SD) in junior-high students was as low as 3.2±2.4/20. Even medical students, who are expected to exercise leadership in health guidance, only had comprehended half of the 20terms : general students of similar ages would correctly answer much fewer items.Teachers should interpret medical terms to students more closely than to adults when they lecture on the use of medicine administration at hospitals and pharmacies, and must confirm whether the students understand the terms correctly. Furthermore, to give “more education on pharmacy and health” seems to be necessary for children at an early age. We propose that for compulsory education in Japan, an infrastructure system should be established in which pharmacists, who are specialized in drugs, participate actively in school lectures.