Provision of Drug Information for Patients of Non-overnight Sanatoriums in Chonburi

Abstract

Objective: To determine the provision of drug information to the patients in non-overnight sanatoriums in Chonburi and factors related to the provision of drug information. Methods: The researchers mailed questionnaires to the managers of 402 non-overnight sanatoriums in Chonburi including general medical clinics and specialty medical clinics. The questionnaires consisted of the questions on general information of clinics and managers, their opinions on the provision of drug information to patients and their provision of drug information. Results: The response rate was 42.79% (n=172). Most of the respondents (79.7%) were in agreement with the provision of drug information for patients. The study found that 11.6% of subjects reported that they provided drug information to patients with complete written information on drug labels, while 33.1% provided drug information with complete verbal information. The clinics with computerized medical records provided more written drug information on labels than those with paper medical records (p=0.027). More verbal provision of drug information was found in clinics with less than 45 years old managers (p=0.017), those with managers with ≤ 11 years of working experience at clinics (p=0.049), being general medical clinics (p=0.034), those with ≤ 10 years of clinic establishment (p=0.049), those with ≥ 5 hours per day of service time (p=0.004), and those with monthly income ≥ 100,001 baht (p=0.033). Conclusions: The majority of non-overnight sanatoriums in Chonburi have not provided complete information on drugs to their patients. The results of this study could be used as an input for promoting the provision of drug information in such clinics to ensure appropriate drug use and patient safety.