건강정보 이해증진을 위한 복약안내문 전문용어의 개선

• Published in: Yaghag-hoi-ji Vol. 65; no. 2; pp. 87 - 97
• Main Authors: 한승희(Seung Hee Han), 한혜성(Hye Sung Han), 손현순(Hyun Soon Sohn)
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Korean
• Published: The Pharmaceutical Society Of Korea 30.04.2021; 대한약학회
• Subjects: 약학; Written medication instruction; community pharmacy; health literacy; plain term; professional term; questionnaire survey
• ISSN: 0377-9556; 2383-9457
• DOI: 10.17480/psk.2021.65.2.87

Despite the increasing importance of medication counseling in pharmacies, written instructions for prescriptionmedications often contain medical terminology that is reportedly difficult for laypeople to understand. This study wasconducted to evaluate whether laypeople understand professional terms -and their equivalent layperson’s terms- in writteninstructions for drugs that are frequently dispensed at community pharmacies; professional terms in instructions wereconverted to layperson’s terms, and study participants’ understanding of those instructions was measured before and afterconversion. This cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted on 348 adults (excluding healthcare professionals) inNovember 2018; the participants’ comprehension levels were evaluated on a 4-point Likert scale. Twenty selectedprofessional terms were converted to layperson’s terms using the Standard Korean Dictionary, Korean Pharmacopeia, andthe Korean Medical Library Engine. Results showed that prior to conversion, more than 50% of respondents could notunderstand 13 of those terms; after conversion, all terms were understood by a majority of the respondents. The meancomprehension score (2.23 points before conversion) significantly improved to 3.48 points after conversion. For all 20terms, the percentage of respondents who answered “understand” (3 or 4 points) was 43.6% before conversion; thispercentage increased to 88.6% after conversion. We found that the layperson terminology adopted in this study effectivelyimproved the general public’s comprehension of professional terms. We hope that efforts to convert professionalterminology to layperson terminology continue in order to ensure appropriate drug use. KCI Citation Count: 0