Recognition of Drug-related Words among Elderly People

Abstract

In awareness-raising activities for medical cost reduction, many drug-related words, including loan words, are used. The use of loan words may reduce the effectiveness of activities to raise awareness among elderly people with difficulty understanding these words. We examined the recognition of drug-related words among the elderly aged 65 or over. The word “generic drugs” had the highest recognition rate, at 94.7%, and those for “general drugs” and “leftover medications” also exceeded 70%. In contrast, the recognition rates for loan words, such as “authorized generics” and “biosimilars”, were markedly low, at 1.5%. The results suggest that the recognition of some words is poor among nonprofessionals, even if they are commonly used by professionals. In activities to raise awareness of medical cost reduction among elderly people, it may be important to use simpler words, and provide more detailed explanations, such as showing actual products.