Document Detail


Excessive medical information increase in package inserts.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  21084033     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
OBJECTIVES: Package inserts are the most frequent source of patient information about medicines aside from doctors and pharmacists.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A representative selection of 271 German package inserts available in 2005 was investigated, using 152 validated quality criteria and by measuring 242 further values.
RESULTS: A significant increase in package insert texts over recent years was found; standing at an average of 2,005 words. This is associated with the significant increase in complicated medical information being communicated; with on an average of 114.1 difficult words and 46.3 non quantifiable phrases per package insert. Only 60.1% of the package inserts offered all dosages as number of tablets or other amounts of the ready to use medicine, while just 29.5% listed the maximum daily dose for all users. 54.6% provided actions for all possible side effects and 24.2% the frequencies of side effects in numerical form.
CONCLUSION: The significantly increased volume of medical information provided in package inserts does not meet the requirements of patients. Major efforts are required by pharmaceutical companies, authorities and legislative bodies in order to reduce information to that which is essential for patients and to ensure that this is provided in short, precise and easily comprehensible texts.
Authors:
J Fuchs; S Werner; C Scheunpflug; E A Götze; K Elstermann; K Scheffel; A Domnowski; G Peter; C Hertzsch; M Hippius
Related Documents :
15032473 - Medical resources on the internet: the role of the medical librarians.
18316453 - Autonomy and negatively informed consent.
22145563 - Withdrawing and withholding medical treatment: a comparative study between the malaysia...
Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article    
Journal Detail:
Title:  International journal of clinical pharmacology and therapeutics     Volume:  48     ISSN:  0946-1965     ISO Abbreviation:  Int J Clin Pharmacol Ther     Publication Date:  2010 Dec 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2010-11-18     Completed Date:  2011-01-11     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  9423309     Medline TA:  Int J Clin Pharmacol Ther     Country:  Germany    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  781-90     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
PAINT-Consult®, Jena, Germany. joerg.fuchs@paint-consult.com
Export Citation:
APA/MLA Format     Download EndNote     Download BibTex
MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Comprehension
Drug Information Services
Drug Labeling*
Humans
Patient Education as Topic

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


Previous Document:  Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors: standardizing therapy monitoring with 68Ga-DOTATOC PET...
Next Document:  Population pharmacokinetic analysis of the active product of dipyrone.