Patient package inserts: goals, success measures and research needs.

The distribution of written, patient-oriented information with most prescription drugs is a likely reality of the 1980s. This article briefly reviews the events leading up to today's patient package insert (PPI) momentum. More importantly, the article summarizes and clarifies the diversity of PPI goals, the difficulties of formulating and obtaining success measures on those goals, and, to a lesser extent, the differing priorities placed on the criteria by the mixture of PPI-affected publics. The framework presented here highlights the most pressing needs for PPI research.