Misunderstanding of medication labels: results of a national survey in Taiwan

誤解藥袋標示：一項台灣全國性調查結果

Objectives: To investigate, in a national sample of Taiwanese adults, the extent to which adults misunderstand medication labels and the relationships between misunderstanding and functional and communicative health literacy. Methods: We partnered with the Taiwan Social Change Survey in 2011 to collect data for this study. Misunderstanding of the medication label was measured by survey respondents' inability to correctly answer 8 questions regarding the route of administration, dosing time, next dosing schedule, individual dosage instructions, indications, warnings, side effects, and physical features of the drug. Respondents' health literacy levels were measured with four screening questions. Results: Of the 2,003 respondents, 1,127 (56.3%) misunderstood one or more elements of the medication label. Logistic regression models showed that among the four health literacy skills, only reading was significantly associated with misunderstanding of the medication label. Age, educational level, occupation, and urbanization of the residential area were significantly associated with misunderstanding of the medication label. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that misunderstanding of medication labels is a problem in the general population of adults in Taiwan. Clear medication labels may be insufficient to ensure the public's safe use of prescription drugs. Additional efforts may be needed to improve the design of medication labels, such as using pictorial presentations to convey the key information of medications.

目標：本研究是以全國性樣本調查台灣成年民眾誤解藥袋標示及其功能性和溝通性健康識能之相關性。方法：本研究透過2011年台灣社會變遷調查收集研究資料，共有2003位具全國代表性的樣本。誤解藥袋標示是測量受訪者是否能正確回答「用法」、「劑量」、「數量」、「作用」、「適應症」、「警語」、「副作用」、「藥物外觀」這八項藥袋上的標示。受訪者的健康識能程度則以四題篩檢問題測量。結果：研究結果發現有1,127（56.3％）受訪者誤解一題或一題以上的藥袋標示，邏輯斯回歸分析結果顯示四種健康識能中，僅有閱讀能力與藥袋標示誤解有顯著關係。受訪者的年齡、教育程度、職業、居住地都市化程度都與誤解藥袋標示有顯著關係。結論：本研究顯示誤解藥袋標示對於台灣民眾仍是一個問題。藥袋明示化並不足以確保民眾使用處方藥物的安全，未來還需改善藥袋標示的設計及使用圖片輔助說明藥袋上重要的訊息。