60% of Patients Say "Pharmacies Provide Insufficient Explanation of Side Effects for Prescription Medications"

Research Team at CHA University of Science and Technology Led by Son Hyun-soon Finds
Perceived Lack of Explanation on Side Effects of Pharmacist-Prescribed Medications

Six out of ten patients reported not receiving sufficient explanations about side effects when obtaining prescription medications at pharmacies.

On the 28th, a research team led by Professor Son Hyun-soon from the College of Pharmacy at CHA University revealed this in a paper published in the latest issue of the Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy. The team conducted an online survey targeting 189 adults aged 20 or older who had experience filling hospital prescriptions at pharmacies within the past year, either as patients or patient guardians, to assess whether pharmacists provided adequate explanations regarding side effects of prescribed medications.

This is a view of a pharmacy near a general hospital and is unrelated to the article content.

The survey results showed that 59.7% of respondents answered "No" to the question of whether pharmacists provided sufficient explanations about side effects of prescribed medications, which was higher than the 40.2% who answered "Yes." In other words, six out of ten patients felt that pharmacists' explanations about side effects were inadequate. Among those who answered "No," 19% responded with "Not at all." On the other hand, the vast majority of respondents (98.9%) agreed that it is "important" for pharmacists to provide sufficient information about side effects. The research team analyzed this as "pharmacists' explanations not meeting public expectations."

The research team stated, "Pharmacists need to strengthen medication guidance to reflect patients' expectations regarding side effect information and to prevent drug-related problems." In particular, it was pointed out that elderly patients often face difficulties such as dyslexia or lack of accurate information about medications, necessitating more meticulous medication guidance.

Specifically, advice was given that concrete medication guidance combining both verbal and written methods is necessary. When asked about preferences for how pharmacists provide side effect information in the survey, 28% preferred verbal explanations, 6.9% preferred written materials such as printed notices, and the highest preference (65.1%) was for a combination of both methods.

The research team suggested, "Currently, the medication guides familiar to our public print basic information such as drug name, ingredients, and indications on one side of the prescription medication bag. If the amount of information increases, the font size becomes smaller, which can cause dyslexia issues for elderly patients, so it is necessary to use separate written medication guides."

Pharmacists' medication guidance is defined by the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act as "providing information on the name, usage and dosage, efficacy and effects, storage methods, side effects, interactions, and characteristics of medicines, or assisting consumers in selecting necessary over-the-counter drugs without diagnostic judgment when selling them." Pharmacists are required by law to provide necessary medication guidance verbally or through medication guides to patients or their guardians when dispensing medicines.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.