ABSTRACT
Over 20% of the U.S. population consists of individuals who are functionally illiterate or low literate. Prescription labels are typically written at the sixth-grade level. A significant number of individuals, because they may not be able to read prescription drug labels, may not have a good understanding of their drug therapy and so may not take their drug regimens correctly. The elderly population is at high risk of not being able to understand their prescription instructions. Literacy is positively related to age, and as individuals grow older, visual acuity diminishes. The USP-DI Pictograms® have been designed to help people understand how to take their prescriptions. The purpose of this study is to determine whether these pictograms can be understood by illiterate and elderly individuals. A study of 14 USP-DI Pictograms was conducted using a sample of 45 respondents from 2 nursing homes and 3 adult literacy programs. Understanding of the pictograms was recorded at two separate times during the interview. Initially, respondents were asked to interpret the pictograms (T1), then the actual meaning was given to them. After a short story was read to them to divert their attention, a second interpretation was recorded (T2). Results indicated that the pictograms were not very well understood by respondents: 54% were incorrectly identified at T1. Respondents misinterpreted significantly fewer (32%) pictograms at T2, after being told the meaning. Seven of the pictograms were misinterpreted by one-third or more of the respondents at T2.