Objectives: To identify differences in reported sources of medicine information between age groups and genders in one European country (Finland).
Methods: A questionnaire on health behaviour was sent by mail to a random sample of 5000 Finns aged 15-64 years in the spring of 2005. The respondents (n=3287) were asked to report the sources from which they had received information about their medicines (both prescription medicines and self-medication) used over the past year (12 months). Number of respondents who had used medicines during the past year and reported at least one source of medicine information was 2348.
Results: Women used PILs, newspapers, magazines, books, Health Food Stores (p<0.001) and advertisements (p<0.01) more than men as their medicine information sources. The oldest (50-64-year-olds) men and women reported doctors as sources of medicine information more commonly (p<0.001) and the Internet less commonly (p<0.001) than respondents in other age groups. The 15-29-year-old women received more information from PILs, nurses, relatives and friends (p<0.001) and from radio and television (p<0.05) than women in other age groups. The 15-29-year-old men found more information from relatives, friends, radio and television (p<0.001) than men in other age groups.
Conclusions: There are differences in the reported sources of medicine information between genders and age groups. Older persons seem mostly to use health professionals as their source, while younger persons seem to prefer the Internet or other sources which they can use by themselves. Women seem to be more active than men in searching for medicine information and, like younger persons, on their own initiative.