OBJECTIVE
To ascertain whether patients at discharge from a municipal teaching hospital knew
their discharge diagnoses, treatment plan (names and purpose of their medications),
and common side effects of prescribed medications.
PATIENTS AND METHODS
From July to October 1999, we surveyed 47 consecutive patients at discharge from the
medical service of a municipal teaching hospital in New York City (Brooklyn, NY).
Patients were asked to state either the trade or the generic name(s) of their medication(s),
their purpose, and the major side effect(s), as well as their discharge diagnoses.
Patients were excluded if they were not oriented to person, place, and time, were
unaware of the circumstances surrounding their admission to the hospital, and/or did
not speak or understand English.
RESULTS
Of the 47 patients surveyed, 4 were excluded. Of the remaining 43 patients, 12 (27.9%)
were able to list all their medications, 16 (37.2%) were able to recount the purpose
of all their medications, 6 (14.0%) were able to state the common side effect(s) of
all their medications, and 18 (41.9%) were able to state their diagnosis or diagnoses.
The mean number of medications prescribed at discharge was 3.89.
CONCLUSIONS
Less than half of our study patients were able to list their diagnoses, the name(s)
of their medication(s), their purpose, or the major side effect(s). Lacking awareness
of these factors affects a patient's ability to comply fully with discharge treatment
plans. Whether lack of communication between physician and patient is actually the
cause of patient unawareness of discharge instructions or if this even affects patient
outcome requires further study.
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Makaryus AN, Friedman EA. Does your patient know your name? an approach to enhancing patient awareness of their physician's and nurse's name in a large municipal teaching hospital. J Healthcare Quality In press.
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© 2005 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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- Patients' Understanding of and Compliance With Medications: The Sixth Vital Sign?Mayo Clinic ProceedingsVol. 80Issue 8
- PreviewThe problem of patients not understanding their disease(s) or its importance and their noncompliance with their physicians’ recommendations is one of gigantic proportions, in both morbidity and mortality as well as in costs. Estimates of patients’ compliance with using medications as recommended vary from 25% to 50%, with the likelihood that assessments are not overestimated because the most common approach for assessing noncompliance is patients’ recounting of activity. Furthermore, we cannot measure the blood levels of most drugs, and even if we could, it would be too expensive.
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