Misunderstanding of prescription drug warning labels among patients with low literacy

American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy

Volumn 63, Issue 11, 2006, Pages 1048-1055

  Wolf, Michael S ^a,e   Davis, Terry C ^b   Tilson, Hugh H ^c   Bass III, Pat F ^b   Parker, Ruth M ^d  

^a NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER   (United States)

^c IL   (United States)

^d EMORY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE   (United States)

^e NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ADULT; ARTICLE; COLOR; COMPREHENSION; FEMALE; HUMAN; MAJOR CLINICAL STUDY; MALE; PHARMACIST; PRESCRIPTION; PRIMARY MEDICAL CARE; PRIORITY JOURNAL; QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS; READING;

EID: 33744906498     PISSN: 10792082     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2146/ajhp050469     Document Type: Article

References (43)

1. Nielsen-Bohlman L, Panzer A, Kindig DA, eds. Health literacy: a prescription to end confusion. Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 2004.
2. Kirsch I, Jungeblut A, Jenkins L et al. Adult literacy in America: a first look at the results of the National Adult Literacy Survey. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics; 1993.
3. Ad Hoc Committee on Health Literacy for the Council on Scientific Affairs. Health literacy: report of the Council on Scientific Affairs. JAMA. 1999; 281:552-7.
4. Gazmararian JA, Williams MW, Peel J et al. Health literacy and patient knowledge of chronic disease. Patient Educ Couns. 2003; 51:267-75.
5. Wolf MS, Davis TC, Cross JT et al. Health literacy and patient knowledge in a Southern US HIV clinic. Int J STD AIDS. 2004; 15:747-52.
6. Kalichman SC, Ramachandran B, Catz S. Adherence to combination antiretroviral therapies in HIV patients of low health literacy. J Gen Intern Med. 1999; 14:267-73.
7. Schillinger D, Grumbach K, Piette J et al. Association of health literacy with diabetes outcomes. JAMA. 2002; 288:475-82.
8. Wolf MS, Davis TC, Parker RM. Low literacy impairs comprehension of prescription drug warning labels. Presented at the International Conference on Communication in Healthcare. Chicago, IL; 2005 Oct.
9. Moisan J, Gaudet M, Gregoire JP et al. Non-compliance with drug treatment and reading difficulties with regard to prescription labeling among seniors. Gerontology. 2002; 48:44-51.
10. Kohn LT, Corrigan JM, Donaldson MS, eds. To err is human: building a safer health system. Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 1999.
11. Nichols-English G, Poirier S. Optimizing adherence to pharmaceutical care plans. J Am Pharm Assoc. 2000; 40:475-85.
12. Blendon RJ, DesRoches CM, Brodie M et al. Views of practicing physicians and the public on medical errors. N Engl J Med. 2002; 347:1933-40.
13. Vincent C. Understanding and responding to adverse events. N Engl J Med. 2003; 348:1051-6.
14. Williams CM. Using medications appropriately in older adults. Am Fam Physician. 2002; 66:1917-24.
15. Phillips DP, Christenfeld N, Glynn LM. Increase in US medication-error deaths between 1983 and 1993. Lancet. 1998; 351:643-4. Letter.
16. Patel P, Zed PJ. Drug-related visits to the emergency department: how big is the problem? Pharmacotherapy. 2002; 22:915-23.
17. Farley D. PDA's Rx for better medication information. FDA Consum. 1995; 29:5-10.
18. 21 C.F.R. 208. Medication guides for prescription drug products, www.access. gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_04/ 21cfr208_04.html (accessed 2006 Feb 28).
19. Food and Drug Administration. Status of useful written prescription drug information for patients. Fed Regist. 2000; 65:7022-3.
20. Food and Drug Administration. Over-the-counter human drugs: labeling requirements. Fed Regist. 1999; 64:13253-303.
21. Svarsted BL, Bultman DC, Mount JK et al. Evaluation of written prescription information provided in community pharmacies: a study in eight states. J Am Pharm Assoc. 2003; 43:383-93.
22. American Pharmaceutical Association. Committee policy report on health literacy, 2001-2002.
23. ASHP guidelines on pharmacist-conducted patient education and counseling. 1997; 54:431-4.
24. The final report of the Keystone national policy dialogue on food, nutrition, and health. Report 59. Keystone, CO: Key-stone Center; 1996 Mar.
25. American Pharmacists Association. Pharmacy and you homepage. www.aphanet. org/AM/Template.cfm?Section = Search&Template=/CM/HTMLDisplay. cfm&ContentID=3546 (accessed 2006 Apr 21).
26. Davis TC, Long SW, Jackson RH et al. Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine: a shortened screening instrument. Fam Med. 1993; 25:391-5.
27. Davis TC, Kennen EM, Gazmararian JA et al. Literacy testing in health care research. In: Schwartzberg JG, VanGeest JB, Wang CC, eds. Understanding health literacy: implications for medicine and public health. Chicago: AMA Press; 2004:157-79.
28. Parker RM, Baker DW, Williams MV et al. The Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults: a new instrument for measuring patients' literacy skills. J Gen Intern Med. 1995; 10:537-41.
29. Stenner AJ. Measuring reading comprehension with the Lexile framework. Paper presented at the 4th North American Conference on Adolescent/Adult Literacy. Washington, DC; 1996 Feb.
30. Strauss A, Corbin J. Basics of qualitative research: grounded theory procedures and techniques. Newbury Park, CA: Sage; 1990.
31. Morris LA, Grossman R, Barkdoll GL et al. A survey of patient sources of prescription drug information. Am J Public Health. 1984; 74:1161-2.
32. Akici A, Kalaca S, Ugurlu MU et al. Patient knowledge about drugs prescribed at primary healthcare facilities. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf. 2004; 13:871-6.
33. Doak CC, Doak LG, Root JH. Teaching patients with low-literacy skills. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott; 1996.
34. McGee J. Writing and designing print materials for beneficiaries: a guide for state Medicaid agencies. Baltimore: Health Care Financing Administration; 1999. HFCA publication no. 10145.
35. Root J, Stableford S. Write it easy-to-read: a guide to creating plain English materials (especially for the Medicaid market). Biddeford, ME: Univ. of New England; 1998.
36. Department of Health and Human Services. Health communication. In: Healthy people 2010. 2nd ed. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office; 2000.
37. Morrell RW, Park DC, Poon LW. Effects of labeling techniques on memory and comprehension of prescription information in young and old adults. J Gerontol. 1990; 45:P166-72.
38. Morrell RW, Park DC, Poon LW. Quality of instruction on prescription drug labels: effects on memory and comprehension in young and old adults. Gerontologist. 1989; 29:345-53.
39. Svarstad BL, Mount JK, Tabak ER. Expert and consumer evaluation of patient medication leaflets provided in U.S. pharmacies. J Am Pharm Assoc. 2005; 45:443-51.
40. Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938. Pub. L. No. 717, 52 Stat. 1040 (1938).
41. Youmans SL, Schillinger D. Functional health literacy and medication use: the pharmacist's role. Ann Pharmacother. 2003; 37:1726-9.
42. Weiss BD. Health literacy, a manual for clinicians: part of an educational program about health literacy, www.ama-assn.org/amal/pub/upload/mm/ 367/ healthlitclinicians.pdf (accessed 2006 Feb 28).
43. Marin G, Marin BV. Research with Hispanic populations. Applied Social Research Series. Vol. 23. Newbury Park, CA: Sage; 1991.