Making Sense of Prescription Drug Labels

Photo of prescription pill bottle If you’ve ever had trouble understanding the labels on your prescription medications, you’re not alone. A recent study asked 395 adult patients to read and correctly explain five common prescription instructions. Almost half of the patients misunderstood one or more of the instructions.

Here are the commonly misunderstood instructions with explanations, plus tips to ensure you’re safely taking all your medications.

Confusing Prescription Instructions Explained

Take one teaspoonful by mouth three times daily.
Translation: Take one teaspoonful at three different times each day.
Take one tablet by mouth twice daily for seven days.
Translation: Take one tablet at two different times each day for seven days.
Take two tablets by mouth twice daily.
Translation: Take two tablets at two different times each day.
Take one tablet by mouth once each day.
Translation: Take one tablet a day.

Patients in the study had the most trouble following instructions that included several elements with different numbers. For example, the instruction “Take one tablet by mouth twice daily for seven days” was particularly confusing. Explicit instructions, such as “Take one tablet in the morning and one at 5 p.m.,” were the least likely to be misunderstood.

Steps to Take to Avoid Mistakes

Make sure you can read the prescription before leaving your doctor’s office. If any part is unclear, ask your doctor to clarify.
Have both your doctor and your pharmacist explain the instructions aloud, and repeat the instructions back to them.
If you need to take a medication more than once a day, ask your doctor or pharmacist the best way to space out the doses.
Ask your doctor or pharmacist to explain any warnings or side effects.


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