Patient recall of medication details in the outpatient clinic. Audit and assessment of the value of printed instructions requesting patients to bring medications to clinic.

OBJECTIVE: There is no ambiguity when a patient presents their medications in the correct packaging during a consultation and declares, "this is what I am taking, doctor, I take this many, at this time". The aim of this study was to establish the prevalence of consultations in which patients attend both "empty handed" and unsure of their treatment. A re-evaluation was made after a simple intervention.
DESIGN: Prospective cross sectional study with subsequent intervention and re-evaluation based on patient completed questionnaire.
SETTING: University hospital cardiology outpatient department. PATIENTS: Consecutive patients arriving at clinic reception desks.
RESULTS: Altogether 774 of 857 patients were receiving treatment; 15% attended with their tablets and 28% provided a note of their medication in some form; 40% attended empty handed but confident they could recall all aspects of their treatment from memory; 17% attended empty handed and unsure of their treatment. INTERVENTION: Clinic appointment cards were stamped with the request PLEASE BRING YOUR MEDICATIONS WITH YOU TO THE CARDIOLOGY CLINIC. A second unrelated cohort of patients was then surveyed in an identical manner, nine months later. Of these, 329 of 376 patients were receiving medication. Those attending with their tablets in hand now accounted for 78% rather than 15% (chi(2)=423, df=2, p<0.001). The group unsure of their treatment, but attending empty handed, fell from 17% to 2%.
CONCLUSIONS: Reprinted appointment cards are highly successful in encouraging patients to attend with their tablets. This provides reliable information for decision making.