Understanding and compliance of medical advice. An experience in Pediatric Primary Health Care

Abstract

Using a descriptive and non -interventional associative design, we studied the levels of understanding and the compliance of medical advice in mothers of 90 children under 6 years of age who consulted with upper respiratory tract infections (a random sample of 14% of the total number consultations with this diagnosis), in the period July - August 1988, in a primary health centre, consultorio Symon Ojeda, in the north of Santiago, Chile. The information was collected from the clinical charts, prescriptions, interviews and home visits. The variables were studied using X2. Results: The overall understanding was classified as good in 35,6 %, and average in 33.3 %. There was a better understanding when fewer drugs were prescribed. We did not find any association between the level of understanding, previous use of the drug and knowledge of what the drug was for. Understanding was significantly better in the group of children who consulted more frequently. Only 31.1% of the cases showed adequate compliance to the medical advice.