The most common intervention in healthcare service is the prescription of medicine. One of the patient's rights is to know basic information about the purpose, duration, dose, and possible and severe side effects of prescribed medicine. Physicians play a vital role in explaining drug details, including side effects, but many patients have no idea and information about their medications. This review is aimed at evaluating the effect
of both educating and neglecting patients about side effects of drugs and their impact on their health and adherence, and to assess the obstacles that physicians face in performing this vital role and suggest solutions to solve the obstacles faced. A comprehensive search was conducted in PubMed and Google Scholar to identify relevant studies on the targeted topic. A total of 40 articles were reviewed, and most of them showed that educating patients about the side effects of medications is an important aspect in the maintenance and promotion of patients' health and safety. Only very few studies were conducted that reported the explanation of serious side effects to negatively affect the adherence of patients to their medications. The current review concludes that explanation of side effects of a drug is not an easy process and needs cooperation between healthcare providers, and each patient should be treated individually with a balance between how much a patient needs to know and avoiding unnecessary details. The patient should be involved in the treatment decision by keeping open and easy access on contact with the healthcare system in case of any adverse effect that affects patients' health and treatment.
Key words: Patient education, side effects, patient rights, adverse drug reactions, patient adherence
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