What problems might patients have in managing their medicines

What problems might patients have in managing their medicines?

Physical problems

For example:

1. Loss of dexterity and unable to press tablets out of blister packs
2. Visual deficit making reading labels difficult
3. Swallowing problems with tablets. Always ask the advice of a pharmacist about suitable options since crushing medicines is potentially dangerous, can reduce the effectiveness and since the medicine was not designed to be crushed, the use becomes unlicensed i.e. the person deciding to crush the tablet becomes responsible for any adverse problems.

Cognitive impairment

Cognitive impairment can lead to missed or extra doses.

Mental illness and lack of insight can result in patients not appreciating what the medicines do, since patient doesn’t realise they are ill.

Language/Literacy problems can mean that a patient cannot read labels or directions.

Difficulty recognising packs

Patients have problems recognising packs, especially where they have packs that look similar. Most manufacturers of generic medicines like to use similar looking packs for all of their products as a branding exercise.

Confusing drug names

Patients can be confused over drug names e.g. where brand medicines are called by the drug name (or vice versa). Similarly when Parallel Imports (PIs) are used. These are products which are in packaging originally designed for use in another European country and are later brought into the UK. They can look very different from the normal UK pack but carry an additional label showing product details in English.

Polypharmacy

Complex regimes e.g. due to multiple medicines and/or times of administration can make it difficult to comply. In addition, where medicines are started at different times, the quantities they hold will be ‘out of sync’ and patients can mismanage their stock and then run out of medicines (or they may stockpile, fearing that they may run out).