Determining Factors of Medication Label Awareness: The Case of Malaysia

Abstract

Medication labelling and patient knowledge can help reduce risk of misuse of medicine. The present study attempts to investigate the demographic, lifestyleand health determinants of awareness of medication labelling among adults in Malaysia. A nationally representative data is used. Findings showage, income, gender, education, ethnicity, marital status, house locality, employment status, physical activity,smoking, hypercholesterolemia and diabetes are significantly associated with awareness of medication label. In particular, age and unhealthy lifestyle reduce the likelihood of being aware of medication label, whereas education level, being married and employed, and having chronic diseases increase the probability of awareness. The study therefore, recommends intervention measures directed toward promoting awareness of medication label among the individuals who have a low tendency to read medication label or may not need read it properly to ensure desirable outcomes.