PHYSICIAN-PATIENT COMMUNICATION REGARDING PRESCRIBED MEDICATION IN AN AMBULATORY CARE SETTING IN KATHMANDU, NEPAL
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31729/jnma.863Abstract
Physician-patient interactions often lead to prescription of medicines. Safety and
compliance in the use of these medicines are largely dependent on proper verbal as
well as written communication between prescriber and patient. However, several
published reports suggest that such communication is often inadequate. The present
study indicated suboptimal doctor-patient communication at a tertiary care hospital
in Nepal. Fifty-two (21.7%) of the 240 patients/caregivers interviewed after out-patient
consultation claimed that doctors did not provide any information on prescribed
medicines. Nearly a quarter of the 188 patients/caregivers who did report having
received information could not recall what they had been told, and in more than half
of these cases the lack of recall was attributed to problems in communication. Frequent
use of the English language and Latin abbreviation in prescribed dosing schedules
indicated a need for improvement in written communication as well.
Key Words: prescribing information; communication; physician-patient interaction; Nepal.
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