The impact of individual education on rational drug use in primary care for patients on long-term medication: An intervention study

Irrational drug use is a common problem in Turkiye and worldwide. Educational interventions are essential to promote rational drug use (RDU) by increasing the knowledge and awareness of the population. This study was conducted between March 1, 2023 and April 16, 2024 in Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Family Medicine Training Unit to evaluate the effect of RDU education in individuals aged 45-74 years who continuously take medication. In this non-randomised matched-controlled intervention study, data were collected from the intervention and control groups through questionnaires including sociodemographic details and the Rational Drug Use Scale (RDUS). Participants in the intervention group received a one-to-one "Rational Drug Use Individual Education Presentation" and a "Rational Drug Use Patient Brochure". The impact of the educational intervention on the RDU was assessed using the RDUS three months after the education. In the final visit, individuals in the control group were also given a patient brochure in line with the principle of "equality." The data obtained from the research were transferred to the computer and analyzed using the IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 23.0 statistical programme. The results were evaluated at 95% confidence interval and significance at p<0.05 level. A total of 365 people, 179 from the intervention group and 186 from the control group, completed the research. There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of gender, age, educational level, employment status, income level, household size and the number of medications taken continuously (p>0.05). When the total RDUS scores in the pre-test and post-test of the intervention and control groups were compared, it was found that there was a significant increase in the RDUS scores after the educational intervention in the intervention group, and the post-test scores of the intervention group were significantly higher than those of the control group (p<0.001 and p=0.001, respectively). According to the multinominal logistic regression analysis, after the educational intervention, the RDU level of the participants in the intervention group increased 2.3 times more than in the control group. (p=0.012). Gender, age category, education level, employment status, income level, household size and polypharmacy status were not determined to have a statistically significant effect on the change in RDU level. In conclusion, the results of the study show that the educational intervention has a positive effect on RDU regardless of the sociodemographic characteristics and polypharmacy status of the participants. Within the framework of a holistic and comprehensive approach, it is thought that the intervention we applied under primary care conditions in this study is a type of intervention that can prevent irrational drug use.