This study demonstrated that adoption of preprinted order sets increased documentation compliance and decreased medication dosage ordering errors.

This cross-sectional study conducted structured patient interviews and found that their understanding of prescription drug labels varied significantly. Patients with limited literacy experienced the greatest challenges, but use of precise wording did improve comprehension.

This study discovered that misunderstanding of dosage instructions is common, especially among those with limited literacy, so improving the simplicity and language of drug labels would be an effective intervention.

Poor health literacy has been identified as an important threat to patient safety, particularly through potentially contributing to adverse drug events. In this study, researchers surveyed patients in three urban primary care clinics serving predominantly indigent populations, and found that low health literacy was independently associated with misunderstanding of prescription drug label instructions. Although the study did not directly evaluate if misunderstanding led to medication errors, the study adds to a growing body of research documenting that patients with low and marginal health literacy have difficulty comprehending prescribing information. In the accompanying editorial, Dr. Dean Schillinger calls for development of standardized systems for transmitting medication instructions to patients in a clear and understandable fashion.

This study addresses the relationship between low health literacy and comprehension of common prescription drug warning labels. Patients at an urban primary care clinic underwent structured interviews to address their understanding of specific one-step warnings (ie, take with food) and multi-step warnings (ie, avoid prolonged exposure to sunlight while taking this medication). The majority of the study population had low or marginal health literacy, defined as reading at an 8th grade level or lower. Patients with low literacy were significantly less likely to correctly interpret warning labels, and multi-step instructions were misinterpreted by the majority of respondents across all literacy levels. Misinterpretation of these common warnings could conceivably lead to misuse of medications or adverse drug events.

This study discovered that multi-step instructions, difficult text, the use of icons and colors, and lack of message clarity all contributed to poor understanding of drug warnings among low-literacy patients. Investigators conducted structured interviews with more than 70 patients reading at or below the 6th-grade level and asked for their interpretations of commonly used warning labels on prescription medications. The authors discuss the implications of their findings for medication safety and recommend improvements aimed at standardizing the process.