Abstract
Physician-patient interactions often lead to prescription of medicines. Safety andcompliance in the use of these medicines are largely dependent on proper verbal aswell as written communication between prescriber and patient. However, severalpublished reports suggest that such communication is often inadequate. The presentstudy indicated suboptimal doctor-patient communication at a tertiary care hospitalin Nepal. Fifty-two (21.7%) of the 240 patients/caregivers interviewed after out-patientconsultation claimed that doctors did not provide any information on prescribedmedicines. Nearly a quarter of the 188 patients/caregivers who did report havingreceived information could not recall what they had been told, and in more than halfof these cases the lack of recall was attributed to problems in communication. Frequentuse of the English language and Latin abbreviation in prescribed dosing schedulesindicated a need for improvement in written communication as well.Key Words: prescribing information; communication; physician-patient interaction; Nepal.
Highlights
The aim of the present study was to determine the extent of physician-patient communication regarding prescribed medication in an ambulatory care setting in Kathmandu, Nepal
A quarter of the patients interviewed claimed not to have been given any information at all about their prescriptions, and nearly a quarter of those who did report receiving information could not recall what it was they had been told. Much of this lack of recall may be attributed to poor communication on the part of the physician, including use of overly technical or indecipherable language, not devoting adequate time to explanation, or deferring the responsibility for providing detailed information to a drug dispenser
While drug sellers certainly have a responsibility to inform patients about dispensed medicines, physicians should at least be expected to provide basic information regarding the medicines they prescribe. This is important in Kathmandu, where medicine shops are often staffed by personnel who are not formally trained in pharmacy,[12] and whose practices have been shown to be suboptimal.[13]
Summary
Physician-patient communication regarding prescribed medication has been identified as an important determinant of medical compliance 1-5 and the incidence of adverse drug outcomes.[6, 7] it is difficult to quantify physician-patient communication, studies have noted that patients are often dissatisfied with the information provided during consultation with physicians.[7,8] it has been documented that patients tend to have poor recall of drug-related information after leaving the hospital or physician's office.[8,9,10,11] These tendencies, reported in modern, industrialized countries, would be expected to be even more pronounced in underdeveloped regions where such problems as illiteracy, access barriers, and language barriers may be more common. The aim of the present study was to determine the extent of physician-patient communication regarding prescribed medication in an ambulatory care setting in Kathmandu, Nepal
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