Patient recall of medication information

One hundred and nine patients were randomly assigned to the study groups. All questions were administered by the same pharmacist as outlined on a standard questionnaire. Tetracycline was selected as the study drug. All patients were given a pre-test and post-test in order to assess the degree of learning which took place during their pharmacy visit. Patient data were tabulated and analyzed statistically. The mean level of recall prior to pharmacist intervention was 26.6 percent. The highest level of recall obtained was 89.2 percent which occurred in patients who received both verbal and written medication instructions from the pharmacist. Through the use of verbal and/or written instructions, the pharmacist was able to reinforce the medication instructions of the physician and had a significant impact on the level of patient knowledge.

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