Consumer use of Consumer Medicine Information

Abstract

ABSTRACTAimTo examine the use of Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) by Australian consumers.MethodA structured questionnaire was administered to eligible consenting consumers from randomly selected community pharmacies in metropolitan Sydney in 2001. All data were coded and frequency distributions were examined for responses to all questions. The construct validity and reliability of the ‘attitude to CMI’ statements were tested using exploratory factor analysis and Cronbach's alpha, respectively.ResultsA total of 226 useable questionnaires were collected from 17 community pharmacies. Consumers had a median age of 56.5 (range 18–92) years and 51% (n = 136) were female. Consumers had variable understanding of CMI and the majority reported receiving one on the day of interview or in the past—mainly as a package insert, and without the involvement of a health professional. Of those who received CMI in the past, two‐thirds reported reading it, resulting in positive as well as negative impacts. Analysis of the ‘attitude to CMI’ section yielded 4 factors explaining 52.8% of the total variance. These were interpreted as: perception of disease/condition (α = 0.86), role of carer (α = 0.85), health locus of control (α = 0.67), and readability and presentation (α = 0.59).ConclusionMany consumers read CMI, mainly in the form of package inserts. There are issues that need to be addressed to optimise the use of CMI by consumers. In order to achieve this, greater involvement from health professionals is necessary.