Patient’s Knowledge and Use of Oral Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs in a Rheumatology Clinic

Abstract

Introduction We evaluated the knowledge of non-steroidal antiinflammatorydrugs (NSAIDs) including their dosage, side effects,contraindications, and drug interactions among the patients in anoutpatient rheumatology clinic. Methods Patients in a rheumatology clinic completed a short surveyassessing their knowledge of over-the-counter NSAIDs. Results The survey was provided to 400 participants and 275(68.5%) were using over-the-counter (OTC) NSAIDs. The majorityof the participants identified their commonly used NSAID. Almost athird were unaware of the contraindication of NSAIDs such as pepticulcer disease, chronic kidney disease, and hypertension. Nearly 53.9%participants denied having any discussion of OTC medications withtheir providers. Two-thirds of the respondents reported seeing onlythe medication packaging for the dose determination (67.8%). Conclusions The gap in patient knowledge of the potential sideeffects and the lack of discussion of OTC medications by the providersmay be predisposing the patients to preventable side effects fromNSAIDs.