Zahid Mahmood, Khan Muhammad Baber, Haroon-ur Rashid, Safirah Maheen, Ambreen Malik Uttra.
Prescription adherence; an investigation among patients at district head quarter hospital, Sargodha.
Professional Med J Jan ;23(08):1010-6.

The aim of current research was to highlight the abilities of patients to understand and follow prescription. Study design: Cross sectional study. Setting: District Head Quarter (DHQ) hospital Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan. Duration: Data was collected between April to June, 2015. Methods: Study was conducted by well-trained pharmacists regarding prescription understanding and following. A well structured questionnaire was designed to gather information from 150 patients that comprised of questions based on all factors to be evaluated for prescription understanding and following. Results: The findings of this critique reveal that, 30% of patients understood instructions given on prescription where as, 12% of patients were able to comprehend physicians writing and 23% were those who even didn’t understand prescription abbreviations. Similarly, correct method of drug administration, compliance with frequency of dose and dosage form and accurate dose intake were acknowledged by 66%, 65%, 73% and 80% patients, respectively while, 28% patients were able to make clear understanding with precautions written on prescription. However, 20% of patients reported that medicines have disturbed their routine life, 29% recognized their dependency on prescribed medications, 22% consulted with a third person for prescription interpretation, 36% reduced their dose to half due to side effects, 35% stated that prescribed brands were available to them and 65% missed their doses due to high cost of brands. Moreover, 76% patients showed consciousness regarding value of therapy and only 31% patients acknowledged that prescribed brands were economical. Conclusion: There is a lot of room for improvement in factors related to prescription understanding and following. Enhanced literacy rate, generic prescribing practices and cost-effectiveness should be considered for prescription consideration. Most important from Pakistan’s point of view, role of pharmacist should be implemented in every health sector of country to mimic most of prescription related problems.

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