Nowadays, many patients search about their medicines online immediately after receiving a prescription. While this can improve awareness, it can also create unnecessary fear.
Sometimes patients read long lists of side effects without understanding that not every side effect occurs in every person. As a result, some people become anxious and stop taking their medicines without consulting a healthcare professional.
This can be especially risky in chronic conditions where treatment consistency is important.
It made me realize that patient counseling today is not only about explaining medicines, but also about helping patients interpret online medical information correctly.
How can healthcare professionals reduce fear and confusion caused by medical information online? What are your thoughts on this ?
Making the patient informed about the possible side effects he/she may suffer while taking the particular medicine may reduce their fear. Also, explaining each of the medicine’s effct on their diseases can also reduce them serching about the medicines online.
As a healthcare professionals we often see patients getting anxious about taking medications after reading side effects in online. In these case counselling the patients would be a crucial role. During counselling we need to be more focused on explaining how does this drug helps in reducing your particular disease/condition, what are the possible side effects that can occur and make them understand that not every side effect occurs in every individual . These would help patients to be more confident and less confusion regarding there treatment.
Because of increased use of AI in this generation most of the patient believe that information available is true. Doctors can help the patients by educating about the side effects and what to do if side effects occur so that they can be more compliant with medications.
Yes, this is indeed a bigger problem. I believe if the treating physician allows the patient to clear their doubts about whatever they saw online, the patient will get educated and build more trust in doctors rather than the internet.
Yes, this indeed is a concern that needs to be addressed. With easy access to information, some patients tends to get paranoid about their regimen and eventually stop it altogether. I believe the right approach is inform patients about the medications. Patients need to be reassured about their treatment protocols and follow-up as needed should be mandated wherever needed to ensure that patients have followed the regimen properly.
Yes, this is happening a lot nowadays. In my opinion, healthcare professionals should clearly explain the patient’s condition and prescribed medicines. Clear counselling and encouraging patients to ask questions can help build trust and reduce fear about side effects.
Because internet gives the database regarding the side effects of a certain drug after many people have posted or shared the same side effect about a certain drug
And as we all know that when mass amount of people say the same thing it’s somehow considered as true! And many articles are posted against the claimed side effects but everyone thinks that we don’t wanna risk our lives just because of this.
Searching online about medication is good for knowledge , that person should know th effects and MOA of drug but they are not interested in that ,they only interested in knowing the side effects of that and got anxious , will terminate their course without consulting to medical practitioners.