The elderly and the medication label: doing it better.

Sixty elderly patients, responsible for taking their medication after discharge, were studied prior to their discharge from hospital. Sixty per cent had problems reading their medication labels and a similar percentage did not have a clear understanding of the labelled directions. The purpose of 54% of the 163 prescribed medicines was unknown to the patients. Some difficulty was experienced with the commonly used 'scriptwriter' typeface and better alternatives are suggested. Greater attention to the medication label, in conjunction with other measures shown to improve compliance, and the development of a unit policy would facilitate better prescribing.