Perception of drug safety and knowledge influences drug selection.

摘要

Since 1997, people have faced a constant barrage of direct-to-consumer television and print advertisements for prescription drugs, so it is conceivable that the term drug side effect would be understood by many Americans. However, the degree to which the American public understands drug safety is unknown. We investigated the association between the level of self-perceived knowledge about drug safety and the impact of such knowledge on patient input when being prescribed a new prescription medication.