Predictor and outcome variables
| Variables | Source | Description | Response options |
| Predictor variables: | |||
| Age | Chart audit | Patient age | Continuous variable |
| Sex | Chart audit | Patient sex | Female, male, other |
| Total medications prescribed at hospital discharge | Chart audit | Total medications prescribed on Discharge Medications Record | Continuous variable |
| Type of healthcare professional participating | Structured observational tool | Type of healthcare professional leading medication communication during encounter | Nurse, pharmacist, doctor, other |
| Communication tools used | Structured observational tool | Tools used during communication. Patient must view these tools during communication | Electronic medical record; My Health Record; discharge summary; Discharge Medication Record; ‘Consumer Medicines Information’ brochure; prescription; patient’s medication list from home; patient’s own medications from home; hospital medication stock; other |
| Patient factors | Structured observational tool | Patient factors that influence communication | Poor sight; poor hearing; symptoms; other |
| Noisy environment | Structured observational tool | Noise present that influences communication | Noise; no noise |
| Total healthcare professionals present | Structured observational tool | Total healthcare professional present in the room during communication | Continuous variable |
| Family/friend/carer/significant other present | Structured observational tool | Total family/friend/carer/significant other present in the room during communication | Continuous variable |
| Total medications discussed | Audio file | Total medications discussed during the encounter | Continuous variable |
| Patient health literacy | Self-report survey: STOFHLA | Measures health literacy | Ranges from 3 to 15 13 or higher=high health literacy 12 or lower=low health literacy43 |
| Preferred role in discussing medications with healthcare professionals | Self-report survey: global rating scale developed by our team | A general global rating scale that asked participants ‘what role do you like in discussing your medicines with healthcare professionals (ie, doctors, pharmacists, nurses)? | The response options were ‘I prefer the healthcare professionals to lead discussions about my medicines’, ‘I prefer that the healthcare professional and I have shared discussions about my medicines’, and ‘I prefer to lead discussion about my medicines’ |
| Health status | Self-report survey: EQ VAS | Describes patients’ self-rated health status | Ranges from 0 to 100 100=best imaginable health 0=worst imaginable health |
| Patient risk of medication-related problems | Self-report survey: DART | Measures risk of medication-related problems | Ranges from 0 to 34 Higher scores indicate greater risk of medication-related problems |
| Outcome variables: | |||
| Preponderance of Initiative | Audio file (coded using MEDICODE) | A rating of who predominately initiates topics during medication conversations (patient or healthcare professional) | Ranges from 0.00 to 1.00 0.00–0.49=monologue 0.50–1.00=dyad and dialogue |
| Dialogue Ratio | Audio file (coded using MEDICODE) | Indicates whether the conversation is monologue (only one person speaks about the category), dyad (each person speaks once about the category) or dialogue (when a person speaks more than once about a category) | Ranges from −1.0 to 1.0 −1.0 to 0.0=patient was active and took initiative 0.1 to +1.0= healthcare professional was active and took initiative |
STOFHLA, The Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults; DART, Drug-Associated Risk Tool; EQ VAS, Euroqol Visual Analogue Scale.