Beyond the Prescription: Exploring the Gap in Patient Knowledge of Medication Guidance in Southwestern Uganda

Background Effective communication between health workers and patients is essential for ensuring the proper use of medication and improving therapeutic outcomes. Owing to poor health literacy levels and constrained healthcare systems, the gap between prescription and patient knowledge of how medications should be used is acute. Objective This study assessed patients' knowledge of prescribed medications, identified sociodemographic and systemic factors influencing this knowledge, and proposed practical recommendations to improve rational medicine use. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted among adult patients who had received prescribed medications from a healthcare facility through a structured questionnaire to collect data on sociodemographics, prescription details, and patients' recall and understanding of key medication information. Results While most patients reported adequate recall of the purpose (86.5%) and frequency (84.5%) of their medications, their knowledge of drug names (22.9%), side effects (18.5%), and storage instructions (36.6%) was notably poor. The composite knowledge score revealed that 54.9% of the respondents had poor knowledge, 37.0% had moderate knowledge, and only 8.1% had good knowledge. Low educational attainment and polypharmacy (≥ 5 drugs in 66.9% of patients) revealed the immediate necessity for culturally and linguistically appropriate medication counseling approaches and suggested community-based initiatives to close this information chasm. Conclusions Limited opportunities for patient–provider interaction and rushed consultations were significant contributing factors. There is a critical gap in patient knowledge of prescribed medications, especially concerning safety-related information.