Awareness and Satisfaction of Patients with Iranian Patient Package Inserts

Background and purpose: A drug brochure or Patient Package Insert (PPI) is a folded sheet of paper in drug package that provides necessary information for effective and safe use of the drug. PPIs are one of the main sources of drug information, so, they should be clear and easily comprehensible to the general public. The purpose of this study was to determine the awareness and satisfaction of patients with Iranian PPIs. Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional study, 200 patients attending pharmacies of the Tabriz University of Medical Sciences were selected using simple random sampling in 2018-2019. A questionnaire was designed as a five-point Likert scale to determine the patients’ awareness and satisfaction with the Iranian PPIs. Content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed and internal consistency was confirmed by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient in SPSS (V. 17). The Cronbach’s alpha was 0.81. Results: According to findings, the average awareness of patients about Iranian PPIs was 50%. The highest satisfaction with PPIs was for “pregnancy and lactation warnings” and “warnings for children”. The overall satisfaction of patients with PPIs was found to be moderate (57%). Conclusion: The current study reported a moderate level of patients’ satisfaction with the Iranian PPIs in Tabriz, Iran. Therefore, appropriate mechanisms should be adopted in the regulations relating to preparation of PPIs and more supervision on pharmaceutical companies by Iran Food and Drug Administration.