PHYSICIAN-PATIENT COMMUNICATION REGARDING PRESCRIBED MEDICATION IN AN AMBULATORY CARE SETTING IN KATHMANDU, NEPAL

Authors

  • Mohan P Joshi Dept. of Clinical Pharmacology, Institute of Medicine, Kathmandu
  • D A Wachter Dept. of Emergency Medicine, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, NM
  • K W Johnson Drug Management Program, Management Sciences for Health, Arlington, VA
  • B M Regmi Dept. of Clinical Pharmacology, Institute of Medicine, Kathmandu
  • R K Tamrakar Pharmacist, Kathmandu
  • S Ranjit Pharmacy Assistant, Kathmandu
  • B Lama Pharmacy Assistant, Kathmandu
  • R Sthapit Pharmacy Assistant, Kathmandu
  • S Dev Pharmacy Assistant, Kathmandu
  • R S Subedi Pharmacy Assistant, Kathmandu

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31729/jnma.863

Abstract

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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Published

2003-01-01

How to Cite

Joshi, M. P., Wachter, D. A., Johnson, K. W., Regmi, B. M., Tamrakar, R. K., Ranjit, S., Lama, B., Sthapit, R., Dev, S., & Subedi, R. S. (2003). PHYSICIAN-PATIENT COMMUNICATION REGARDING PRESCRIBED MEDICATION IN AN AMBULATORY CARE SETTING IN KATHMANDU, NEPAL. Journal of Nepal Medical Association, 40(137), 6–11. https://doi.org/10.31729/jnma.863

Issue

Vol. 40 No. 137 (2001)

Section

Original Article

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