You are here

  • Home
  • Archive
  • Volume 25, Issue 4
  • Emergency department patient knowledge concerning acetaminophen (paracetamol) in over-the-counter and prescription analgesics

Article Text

Article menu
Download PDFPDF
Original Article
Emergency department patient knowledge concerning acetaminophen (paracetamol) in over-the-counter and prescription analgesics
  1. D Fosnocht1,
  2. J R Taylor1,
  3. E M Caravati2
  1. 1
    Division of Emergency Medicine, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
  2. 2
    Utah Poison Control Center, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
  1. D Fosnocht, MD, Division of Emergency Medicine, University of Utah School of Medicine, 30 North 1900 East 1C026, Salt Lake City, UT 84132, USA; DaveFosnocht{at}comcast.net

Abstract

Objectives: This study was designed to evaluate patient knowledge of the acetaminophen (paracetamol) content of commonly used pain medications and the maximum daily recommended dose of acetaminophen.

Methods: A prospective, convenience sample of emergency department patients were enrolled. Data were recorded using a standardised questionnaire over 4 months.

Results: 1009 patients were enrolled. 492 patients (49%) did not know if Tylenol® contained acetaminophen (paracetamol). The majority (66–90%) of patients did not know if Lortab®, Vicodin®, Percocet®, non-aspirin pain reliever, ibuprofen, Motrin™, or Advil™ contained acetaminophen. 568 patients (56%) reported not knowing the maximum daily dose of acetaminophen and only 71 patients (7%) reported the correct daily dose.

Conclusions: Patient knowledge of the acetaminophen content of commonly used analgesic medications and its maximum recommended daily dose is limited. This may contribute to unintentional repeated supratherapeutic ingestion (RSTI) of acetaminophen, or overdose.

https://doi.org/10.1136/emj.2007.053850

Statistics from Altmetric.com

    Request Permissions

    If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

    View Full Text

    Footnotes

    • Competing interests: None declared.