Conformity of prescription medication labels with label format and content recommendations

Background

Prescription medication labels (PMLs) are central in guiding patients to use their medications appropriately. For PMLs to achieve this purpose, their content must enable medication use as desired and be presented in a clear and legible manner.

Aim

This study assesses the extent to which the format and content of PMLs used in Singapore meet national and/or international recommendations, and if the extent varies across public and private healthcare institutions.

Method

The format and content variables of 113 PMLs were compared against published recommendations. Variability in the extent to which the format and content of PMLs met the recommendations across public and private institutions was assessed through the Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test.

Results

Less than 50% of the PMLs conformed with the format recommendations of printing instructions in sentence case (35.4%), and the content recommendations for providing drug–food administration instructions (45.3%), using specific dosing intervals for dosing instructions (21.2%), providing an expiry date (17.7%), and generating bilingual labels (5.3%). A higher proportion of private institution PMLs followed the format recommendations of printing instructions in sentence case (p = 0.004) and numeric characters for quantitative values (p = 0.003), and the content recommendations for providing drug indication (p < 0.001). In contrast, a higher proportion of public institution PMLs followed the content recommendations of using specific dosing intervals (p = 0.001), providing side effects/precautions (p = 0.003), and providing drug-food administration instructions (p = 0.021).

Conclusion

There is definite scope for improving the format and content of PMLs in Singapore. Future studies could explore the possible logistical, financial, and administrative reasons that contribute to PML variability across healthcare institutions.