Table 1 Health literacy quality use of medicines indicators (health literacy skills) included in all resources (N = 147) and selected sample of resources (n = 49)

Individual health literacy

 Ask questions to seek clarification

77

52.4

22

44.9

 Seek further information

72

49.0

30

61.2

 Discuss issues relating to complementary medicines

46

31.3

19

38.8

 Discuss issues relating to cost of medicines

10

6.8

5

10.2

Understanding quality use of medicines

 Think about benefits and risks of a medicine

94

63.9

34

69.4

 Think about medicine interactions

43

29.3

20

40.8

 Think about medicine addiction

10

6.8

5

10.2

 Store medicine correctly

10

6.8

5

10.2

 Dispose of medicine safely

7

4.8

4

8.2

 Avoid taking another person’s prescription medicine

7

4.8

4

8.2

 Check a medicine’s expiry date

2

1.4

2

4.1

Engaging with health professionals

 Ask the health professional questions

100

68.0

31

63.3

 Seek professional support before starting medicine

86

58.5

30

61.2

 Engage in shared decision making

74

50.3

28

57.1

 Prepare for health consultations

45

30.6

16

32.7

 Use the same health professional (for people with ongoing health issues)

5

3.4

2

4.1

Reading medicine information

 Learn about a medicine’s side effects

85

57.8

30

61.2

 Learn about the medicine dose

61

41.5

25

51.0

 Check the medicine’s active ingredient(s)

50

34.0

20

40.8

 Read the medicine label

44

29.9

15

30.6

 Learn what the medicine is used for

40

27.2

14

28.6

 Read pharmacist instructions on the medicine

34

23.1

13

26.5

 Learn about the medicines warning/allergies

24

16.3

9

18.4

Accessing further information

 Seek information from a telephone information service

45

30.6

18

36.7

 Seek information in the Consumer Medicines Information (CMI) Leaflet

35

23.8

11

22.4