Low Health Literacy

(New York - WABC, November 29, 2006) (WABC) -- A new study is pointing out a common health danger, not understanding how to use the medications the doctors give us.

Experts say nearly too many adults are not clear about how often or why they need to take their medicine.

Dr. Jay Adlersberg is on call with more.

A group of medical experts, scientists, researchers and doctors are talking about this at a conference in Washington today. They say it's a growing problem called low health literacy. Basically, it's not understanding what you need to know to make the right decisions for your health.

That includes not understanding how to take your medications.

'Take two tablets by mouth twice daily.' Does this sound clear to you?

Well, according to a new study only one in three people surveyed were able to demonstrate that those instructions meant that the total number of pills to be taken in a day was four.

Buddy Landry is a college graduate, but he still had trouble understanding a label for his prescription medication, which allowed an infection to continue.

"The label said to take the tablets four times a day. But it was not clear to me whether four times a day meant every four hours or every six hours," Buddy Landry said. "And neither the doctor nor the pharmacist would give me a straight answer."

Confusions like Landry's are common. A study by doctors in the Annals of Internal Medicine found the more medications a person took, the more likely one was to misunderstand the labels.

And people with low literacy had more problems.

The study was designed to find out if patients were able to read and correctly state how they would take five common prescription medications after reviewing label instructions on actual pill bottles.

"Patients make lots of mistakes. It's important not just to read the label but to understand how to take the medicine," Dr. Terry Davis from American College of Physicians said. "So you have to be able to understand and use the instructions."

The researchers say labels may be short and simple but they are not clear.

Dr. Davis: "One of the things we found out about this study is that doctors need to write more precise instructions. So, take one pill at eight and one pill at five or one with breakfast and one pill with diner."

Buddy Landry: "I have learned a lesson that you need to inquire closely."

How you take your medications influences whether the drug would work or not. When you get a bottle at drug store, open the package before you leave and make sure you understand the directions. If not, ask pharmacist.

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