Uncertainty through leaflet

Instruction leaflets confuse the patient

07/16/2011

The package leaflets of the drugs lead rather to the uncertainty of the patients, instead of being perceived as helpful information, so the result of a recent survey of the
Federal Association of German Pharmacist Associations (ABDA).

The Federal Association of German Pharmacists Associations (ABDA) has interviewed 3,300 Germans on their experience with the leaflets and found that a large part of the explanations as too complicated and detailed. In addition, the reported side effects scare many respondents and lead to uncertainty among patients, according to the ABDA survey.

Every second person is unsettled by the leaflets
In the current survey, 58 percent of the 3,300 respondents stated that they find the package leaflets of the drugs too complicated and detailed. In addition, the information is often incomprehensible and difficult to read because of the particularly small printing, so the assessment of every second study participant. In addition, 37 percent of the subjects stated that the package leaflets scared them. Among the study participants over the age of 65, even 49 percent of respondents felt frightened by the leaflets. The ABDA Vice President Friedemann Schmidt explained therefore that in case of possible insecurities by „ the long list of possible side effects“ Affected necessarily with one „Doctor or pharmacist talking about it“ should. Although the described side effects are often frightening for the patients, in a consultation, possible imponderables can, according to the experts, be discussed much more accurately than on a leaflet in the small print. In any case, be a counseling session „better than not taking any medication or stopping the treatment prematurely“, warned the ABDA Vice President.

Information on side effects often confusing
The expressed criticism of the patients is in the opinion of Friedemann Schmidt also due to the fact that the manufacturer must specify all known side effects including their frequency. However, the information on the leaflets would like „frequently“ or „occasionally“ different from the general usage, so that this could already lead to confusion in the patients. Because the indication „frequently“ According to the ABDA Vice President, the side effects mean that out of a hundred patients, at most nine have developed corresponding symptoms. Side effects with „Rare“ at most one in a thousand users, explained Schmidt. Since the problem is well known to physicians and pharmacists, the ABDA and the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV) already presented a comprehensive concept for the future in spring 2011 with the aim of reducing uncertainty among patients and improving drug safety (AMTS). As a possible measure, it is suggested, among other things, that physicians in the future should not directly determine the drugs but only active ingredients and the conditions for their use (quantity, dosage form). The pharmacists would then choose the appropriate preparations for the patients. (Fp)

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Picture credits: Jens Goetzke