Seeking international consensus in the use of icons for medication instructions

Abstract

The implementation of language-independent strategies to improve patients' comprehension of health-related information may promote adherence and reduce medication errors across a broad population of patients with highly varied backgrounds. However, for icon systems to be effective without necessitating extensive patient training, they must be intuitively understood by their user audience. The current study preliminarily assesses the effectiveness of using single-icon systems as non-verbal means of communication for conveying meanings of medication instructions to different populations worldwide. Eight-hundred and fifty participants from 84 countries completed a brief online questionnaire assessing preference for icons depicting information about when and how to take medications. Participants were grouped by residing world region (Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, Northern America, or Oceania). While the overall most-preferred icon was also the most preferred within each region for some types of information, for other types of content, the overall most-preferred icon was not universally chosen by each region separately, with some world regions preferring differing icons. These results suggest that in some instances, universal icons may be appropriate for conveying meaning to a worldwide patient population, but in other cases, culturally specific icons may provide more beneficial depictions of health-related information than a single, universal icon system.

Keywords:

• Patient education
• Pharmacy
• Icons

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Elizabeth A H Wilson

Elizabeth A. H. Wilson is a Research Assistant Professor with the Health Literacy and Learning Program in the Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics at the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University. She received her PhD in psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2009.

Régis Vaillancourt

Régis Vaillancourt is currently the Director of Pharmacy and Director, Integrated Pain Services at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario. He has completed a Bachelor of pharmacy, a hospital pharmacy residency and a Pharmacy Doctor degree. He provides clinical pediatric pharmacy support to Palliative and Chronic Pain services at CHEO.

Elena Pascuet

Elena Pascuet is a Project Coordinator for the Pharmacy Department at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa, Canada. She received her Baccalaureate in Science, with an Honours in Biology from the University of Ottawa in 2004. She then completed her Master of Science from McGill University in Montreal, Canada in 2006.

Luc J R Besançon

Luc J R Besançon is a Manager for Scientific and Professional Affairs at the International Pharmaceutical Federation (which represents pharmacists globally). He completed his Doctorat d'État en Pharmacie (PharmD) in 2004 further to an education in France and Canada. He holds a Master's Degree in European Public Relations from Paris V-La Sorbonne.

Michael S Wolf

Michael S. Wolf is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Learning Sciences, and Associate Division Chief for General Internal Medicine & Geriatrics at the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He also is Founder and Director of the Health Literacy and Learning Program (HeLP).