Abstract
Adverse drug reactions (ADRs), or side effects to prescribed medications, are a frequent reason for doctor-patient contact (Miller, Britt, Valenti, & Knox, 2006) and fatal ADRs may be as high as the fourth leading cause of death (Lazarou, Pomeranz, & Corey, 1998). They are regarded as one of the most costly and common sources of preventable harm (Pham et al., 2012). ADRs therefore constitute an important public health problem in terms of mortality, morbidity, and cost (Lopez-Gonzalez, Herdeiro, & Figueiras, 2009). It is also known that patients evaluate medications in part on the basis of perceived adverse reactions and that this may lead to noncompliance or the institution of their own strategies to reduce side effects (Pound et al., 2005). This possible response by patients can have a number of consequences. It may lead to the nonreporting of adverse drug reactions, but patients may also alter the way they use medication due to their perception of its effects. There are major consequences for health in this regard. Yet little research has looked at doctorpatient interactions specifically in relation to side effects talk.
In this chapter an overview is provided of the little research that has been undertaken on communication issues related to ADRs in the consultation. This is followed by an outline of research on primary care consultations in which the topic of ADRs was explored and a summary of the findings from this research. The chapter concludes by detailing the interactional difficulties that the topic of ADRs may give rise to in primary care consultations, and suggests some ways for health professionals to respond to these difficulties.