Medication Side Effects in Home Care How Much Do Patients Really Want to Know?

This descriptive study surveyed home care (HC) patients about self-perceived needs concerning medication side effect (SE) knowledge, desire to learn about SEs, how they address SEs with HC professionals, and preferred learning format. A researcher-created survey examined by experts and administered to a focus group of older adults to establish content validity was mailed to all patients older than 65 years, without a dementia diagnosis at a northeastern HC agency (n = 240). Data were analyzed to determine patient preferences on medication SE education. Of the 39 respondents, 44% were not interested in SE education, whereas the majority of others preferred to ask physicians or pharmacists about SEs. Qualitative data revealed fears about SEs or conversely, desire to remain uninformed unless a SE occurred.