Measurement of patients' knowledge of their medication in community pharmacies in Portugal

El objetivo do artículo es determinar el conocimiento de los pacientes sobre sus medicamentos. Estudio observacional descriptivo transversal. El conocimiento se midió mediante un cuestionario válido y fiable (CPM-PT-PT), a los pacientes que acudieron a las farmacias comunitarias participantes en el estudio solicitando uno o varios medicamentos en el Área Metropolitana de Lisboa. Se determinó el conocimiento en sus cuatro dimensiones: objetivo terapéutico, proceso de uso, seguridad y conservación de los medicamentos que el paciente utiliza. Participaron 35 farmacias, obteniéndose 633 pacientes válidos. El 82.5% (IC95%: 79,3%-85,3%) no conocen el medicamento que utilizan. En todos los ítems, hubo un alto porcentaje de pacientes con conocimiento incorrecto, destacando especialmente las precauciones (44,7%). La dimensión que menos conocen los pacientes fue la "seguridad del medicamento" (1,9%). 8 de cada 10 pacientes de la población no conocen el medicamento que utilizan. La mayor carencia de información correcta corresponde a la "seguridad" del medicamento.The scope of this article is to determine patients' knowledge about the medication they take. For this purpose, a cross-sectional, observational and descriptive study was conducted. Knowledge was measured by a valid and reliable questionnaire (CPM-PT-PT), given to the patients attending community pharmacies participating in the study, who had prescriptions for one or more drugs in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area. Knowledge was assessed in four dimensions: therapeutic objective, process of use, safety and maintenance of the medications that the patient takes. Thirty-five pharmacies participated, and 633 valid patients were obtained. Fully 82.5% (95% CI: 79.3% -85.3%) were uninformed about the nature of the drug they use. In all items, there was a high percentage of patients with incorrect knowledge, with emphasis on precautions (44.7%). The dimension that the patients were least aware of was "drug safety" (1.9%). Eight out of 10 patients in the population do not know what drug they use. The highest lack of correct information was with respect to the "safety" of the medication