The power of the 'medicine': adolescents define the term

Focal points The ideas that adolescents have about the nature of “medicines” are poorly understood A series of focus groups exploring adolescents' use of complementary and alternative medicine revealed that individuals classify therapeutic entities into categories and assign general properties to substances in each category Individuals' classification of a substance as a “medicine” varied, with criteria including whether it was synthetic or natural, whether a doctor supplied it, and whether it was formulated as a pill The concept that adolescents have of “medicines” seems to be influenced by family members, mass media and personal experience These findings are important for prescribers and pharmacists in optimising concordance with young patients