Effective Communication of Patient Information Leaflets (PILs) in Selected Malaria Drugs in Nigeria

DeDemola Jolayemi, Destiny Idegbekwe

Abstract


Communication is a soul-train that connects the humans of the same speech community. Effective communication is even a larger soul-train that promotes a peaceful co-existence among the humans. It is established that fracas of all sorts ensue when a society debars effective communication; to misunderstand or not know medical inscriptions attracts the worst health catastrophe that a society can ever imagine. It is against this background that this study investigates if the educated Nigerian malaria users understand the instructions contained in selected Nigerian Malaria Drug Patient Information Leaflets (PILs). The study designed a questionnaire, which consisted of nine question items, and administered it on 900 educated Nigerians through the Google Form Online Outlet (GFOO). To analyse the data, the study applied the non-inferential tools of frequency count and percentage in order to draw conclusions from the natures and features of the data obtained for the study. The study presents, among other findings, that the majority of the educated Nigerians do not understand the PILs of the malaria drugs due to the strange or technical nature of the words, and the complex nature of the sentences used to write the leaflets.

 


Keywords


Malaria; Drug leaflets; Self-medication; Effective communication

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References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/11285

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