Patient Comprehension of Medication Guides for Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Medications. (September 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: DiSantostefano, Rachael L.; Beck, Melissa; Yeakey, Anne M.; Raphiou, Ibrahim; Stempel, David A.
• Is Part Of: Therapeutic innovation & regulatory science. Volume 48:Number 5(2014:Sep.)
• Page Start: 574
• Page End: 582
• Publication Date: 2014-09
• Subjects: health literacy -- comprehension -- medication guide -- asthma -- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Drugs -- Periodicals; Pharmacology -- Periodicals; Drugs -- Research -- Periodicals; Drugs -- Testing -- Periodicals; 615.1
• DOI: 10.1177/2168479014524407
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2168-4790

Abstract

Purpose: This study assessed patients' comprehension of the Advair and Serevent medication guides (MGs) and MG reading behaviors with the goal to improve risk communication. Methods: After reading their assigned MGs, 452 adults with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease participated in structured interviews to assess comprehension of safety risks in the Advair MG (asthma, n = 150; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, n = 153) and Serevent MG (asthma, n = 149). Generalized estimating equations for correlated binary data were used to identify factors associated with correct responses. Results: For 10 of 12 individual risk questions, ≥75% of patients reported correct responses. After adjusting for patient characteristics, health literacy was significantly associated with correct responses (odds ratio = 1.03, 95% confidence interval = 1.02-1.05 per 1-point increase in the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine). MG reading behaviors were inconsistent, with many patients reading MGs only once (40%) despite multiple prescriptions. Conclusions: Comprehension of safety risks in the Advair and Serevent MGs was adequate for most patients in the study but decreased with health literacy. Initiatives to improve patient-directed risk communication should consider health literacy and reasons for inconsistent reading behaviors.