Including the reason for use on prescriptions sent to pharmacists: scoping review (8 July 2020)

An important message here. Knowing the reason for the use of a medicine (i.e. its 'indication') is vital for patient safety. 

It's not just pharmacists who need to know the indication for a medicine.

In my clinical practice I've seen problems caused by misunderstandings of what a medicine was prescribed for. Including patients who have been prescribed antipsychotic drugs which they did not know the reason for & which could be making their condition worse. Also, I've come across people who were prescribed antidepressants for pain rather than depression (e.g., amitriptyline which is indicated for both things) who believed they were taking an antidepressant and that it 'wasn't working', not knowing that the dose prescribed for pain is lower than that for depression.

Many medicines have several different indications, also some medicines are used 'off label' (i.e. for purposes that they are not licensed for). This can be confusing to both patients and clinicians alike, especially when trying to build up a list of previous medicines and what they were prescribed for.

I've seen prescribing mistakes made as a result.