Patients' knowledge about medication prescription in the emergency service

To identify which orientations were received by the patient about the medication prescription and which professional performed it; to evaluate the patients' knowledge about prescription drugs and to correlate it to socioeconomic variables, comorbidities, and the frequency with which the patient seeks emergency service; and to evaluate the knowledge about the medication prescribed after the health care.

Method:

This was a cross-sectional study on 304 patients that received emergency service's discharge along with medication prescription. Applied instruments: sociodemographic characterization and evaluation of the knowledge about the prescribed medication. We used a descriptive and inferential analysis.

Results:

Most subjects had no doubts about how or for how long to take the medication; and presented questions about adverse reactions and what to do in case of forgetting to take the medication doses. There was a significant association between age; educational level; comorbidity; the frequency of emergency service's use; and knowledge about medications.

Conclusion:

a total of 48% of the patients declared to need information about adverse effects and what to do if they forget to take the medication.

Descriptors:
Knowledge; Medication Prescription; Emergency Care; Medical Emergency Service; Emergency Nursing

Characteristics	n	%
Sex
Male	119	39.14
Female	185	60.86
Educational level
Illiterate/Some elementary or middle school	74	24.67
Elementary or Middle School	44	14.47
High School/Some High School	138	45.07
College degree/Some college	48	15.79
Occupation
Employee	187	61.52
Unemployed	17	5.59
Retiree/Pensioner	59	19.41
Student	14	4.60
Homemaker	27	8.88
Monthly household income^* * The household income is given in minimum wage (MW) (1 MW = R$880,00)	6	1.97
< 1	6	1.97
1 to 2	168	55.27
3 to 5	113	37.17
> 5	17	5.59
Smoker
Yes	54	17.77
No	250	82.24
Alcoholic
Yes	9	2.96
No	295	97.04
Frequency of emergency service usage in the last year
None	26	8.55
1-3 times	163	53.62
4 times or more	115	37.83

Received information	Yes	No
Received information	n (%)	n (%)
Name of the prescribed medication	138 (45.39)	166 (54.61)
Reason the medication was prescribed	280 (92.11)	24 (7.89)
Dose to be taken	107 (35.20)	197 (64.80)
Times the medication must be taken	223 (73.36)	81 (26.64)
Period (s)he should make use of medication	240 (78.95)	64 (21.05)
Method of administration	237 (77.96)	57 (22.04)
What to do if (s)he forgets one or more doses	5 (1.97)	298 (98.03)
Most common adverse effects	13 (4.28)	291 (95.72)
Need more information about the prescribed medication	147 (48.36)	157 (51.64)
Some professional provided information on the prescribed medication	297 (97.70)	7 (2.30)

Variables	p value
Age and knowledge of the medication dose	<0.01^* * Pearson Chi-square Test
Age and knowledge of the medication usage period	0.01^* * Pearson Chi-square Test
Educational level and knowledge of the medication dose	<0.01^* * Pearson Chi-square Test
Educational level and knowledge about the time to take the medication	<0.01^* * Pearson Chi-square Test
Educational level and knowledge about the medication usage period	0.03^* * Pearson Chi-square Test

Variables	p value
Age and knowledge of the medication dose	<0.01^* * Pearson Chi-square Test,
Age and knowledge of the medication usage period	0.01^* * Pearson Chi-square Test,
Educational level and knowledge of the medication dose	<0.01^* * Pearson Chi-square Test,
Educational level and knowledge about times to take the medication	<0.01^* * Pearson Chi-square Test,
Educational level and knowledge about duration of medication treatment	0.03^* * Pearson Chi-square Test,
Presence of comorbidity and knowledge about the medication prescription	0.04^* * Pearson Chi-square Test,
Presence of comorbidity and knowledge about the attitude in case of forgetting the medication dose	<0.01^* * Pearson Chi-square Test,
Presence of comorbidity and need to receive information about the prescribed medication	0.03^* * Pearson Chi-square Test,
Number of visits to the emergency service in the last year and knowledge about the medication prescribed	<0.01^ Kruskal-Wallis Test
Number of visits to the emergency service in the last year and knowledge about the medication indication	0.03^* * Pearson Chi-square Test,
Number of visits to the emergency service in the last year and knowledge about the medication dose	<0.01^* * Pearson Chi-square Test,
Number of visits to the emergency service in the last year and a knowledge about times to take the prescribed medication	0.03^* * Pearson Chi-square Test,

Associação Brasileira de Enfermagem SGA Norte Quadra 603 Conj. "B" - Av. L2 Norte 70830-102 Brasília, DF, Brasil, Tel.: (55 61) 3226-0653, Fax: (55 61) 3225-4473 - Brasília - DF - Brazil
E-mail: reben@abennacional.org.br

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[1] CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Meiry Fernanda Pinto Okuno. E-mail: mf.pinto@unifesp.br