Effect of Patient Education on Discharge for Use of Medication Notebook on Purchasing Over-the-counter Drugs and Health Foods

-a Randomized Controlled Trial-

Abstract

Medication notebooks are highly evaluated as tools for sharing medication information among medical institutions. Using the notebook, the history of ethical drugs is managed, but the history of over-the-counter (OTC) drugs and health foods is seldom managed. We investigated the effect of patient education on discharge for medication-notebook use on purchasing OTC drugs and health foods. Patients aged ≥ 20 years who were hospitalized at the Department of Ophthalmology of Gifu Municipal Hospital between October 16, 2013 and February 28, 2014 (n = 136) were allocated randomly to an intervention group with the education and a control group without the education, and we performed questionnaire surveys before the education and at 2 months after discharge. The education explains the importance of medication-notebook use on purchasing OTC drugs and health foods and recommends appropriate use. The questionnaire covers the use of OTC drugs and health foods, the purchase of them in pharmacy/store and by Internet/mail-order, and medication-notebook use at the time, etc. The rate of medication-notebook possession was 82.3% in total, and the rate of the notebook use on purchasing OTC drugs and health foods in pharmacy/store and by Internet/mail-order was 0% each before the education. The rate of patients who got to use the notebook on purchasing OTC drugs or health foods in pharmacy/store or by Internet/mail-order in 2 months from discharge was 30.0% in the intervention group and 0% in the control group (P = 0.020), revealing that patients got to use a medication notebook on purchasing OTC drugs and health foods spontaneously as a result of receiving the education.