Patients’ information needs about medication prior to hospital admission: a survey study

Abstract

Background: Adequate medication information during hospitalization is essential for patients to make informed decisions regarding the initiation of medication and the safe and effective use of medications. However, following discharge, patients frequently report insufficient knowledge about their medications and express dissatisfaction with the information provided during their hospital stay. This lack of understanding can lead to reduced treatment efficacy, safety concerns, and non-adherence to prescribed therapies.

Aim: This study seeks to explore patients' needs for and optimal method of delivering medication information prior to hospital admission, focusing on medication planned to be administered during their stay.

Method: A quantitative study, using questionnaires was performed at Erasmus MC. Patients were eligible to participate if they were 18 years or older, discharged 3 and 8 days prior to the interview, admitted for at least one day, and returned home after hospitalization. Two research students contacted the patients via telephone to inform them about the study. After informed consent was obtained, the questionnaire was administered by phone. Descriptive statistics (percentages) were used to analyze the main outcomes. Subgroup analyses were conducted using multinomial regression to investigate if there were any patients' characteristics that were associated with wanting medication information before hospital admission.

Results: The findings indicated that 49.2% of patients had expressed a preference for medication information before hospital admission. Most of these patients preferred receiving information online or through a combination of a conversation with information provided digitally or in print. Among all the patients with a planned admission who had also received new medication, 57.1% had not received medication-related information prior to admission, whereas 42.9% had. Among those who had received pre-admission information, 69.2% had reported being satisfied, 20.5% had been very satisfied, while only a patients were neutral (7.7%) or dissatisfied (2.6%). The subgroup analysis showed that patients who had been taking fewer than five medications had been more likely to want medication information prior to admission, while those who had perceived their health as good had been less likely to want such information.

Conclusion: Approximately half of clinical patients expressed a need for medication information prior to hospital admission. The preferred method of delivering this information is online or a conversation with a health care provider. Most patients at Erasmus MC reported being satisfied with the medication information provided before admission. Hospitals can enhance patient care by providing medication information prior to admission to all patients.