Background: 'Ask About Medicines Week' (AAMW) was held in October 2003 to encourage people to find out more about their medicines. Pharmacists were supplied with materials for display, including pocket-sized cards listing key questions for medicines users.1 Research has found that young people who take medicines feel that they are excluded from discussions about issues such as side-effects.2 Many adolescents are using the Internet for health information.3 A well-known UK teenage health website, www.teenagehealthfreak.org, runs regular short quizzes. During AAMW, the topic was medicines. This paper explores adolescents' responses to the medicines quiz.

Methods: A link to a short online medicines quiz was placed on the homepage of both the 'Teenage Health Freak' and 'Ask Dr Ann' (www.drann.org) websites from 1st-31st October 2003. A 'pop-up box' with the AAMW logo appeared upon entry to invite visitors to complete the quiz. Three multiple-choice questions were asked about medicines, and age/gender information sought from each respondent. One of the quiz questions was: "If your doctor suggests that you need to take a new medicine – which of the following questions should you ask him/her about the medicine?" Adolescents were asked to respond regarding the 5 AAMW questions.

Results: During the quiz period, 456 adolescents aged 11 and over completed the questions, with twice as many girls as boys taking part. Forty percent of respondents chose all the AAMW questions as their response, but a gender difference emerged (46% of girls vs. 28% of boys). The percentage of respondents choosing each question is shown in Table 1.

a. What does this medicine do? (57)
b. How long will I need to use it? (57)
c. How and when should I take it? (64)
d. Do I need to do anything special while I'm taking it? (51)
e. What are the possible 'side-effects', and what should I do if I get one? (68)
Table 1 – Percentage of adolescents choosing each AAMW question (n=456)

Girls were more likely than boys to choose any question as appropriate to ask their doctor. The order of popularity was similar (Boys - e, ac=, b, d: Girls - e, c, b, a, d), with side-effects first.

Discussion: A minority of adolescent participants thought they should ask all the AAMW questions when their doctor gave them a new medicine. Interest in side-effects was notable, and consistent with the literature. Adolescents should be encouraged to ask more questions about the medicines that they are prescribed. Pharmacists, and other health professionals, could usefully reflect upon the information about medicines (verbal and written) that they provide for adolescents to ensure that all the AAMW points are covered.

References:
1. Anonymous. Pharmacists expected to play key role in Ask About Medicines Week activities. Pharm J 2003; 271: 481.
2. Beresford B and Sloper P. Chronically ill adolescents' experiences of communicating with doctors: a qualitative study. J Adolesc Health 2003; 33(3): 172-179.
3. Rideout V. Generation Rx.com: How Young People Use the Internet for Health Information. Menlo Park (CA): Kaiser Family Foundation; 2001.