The Influence of Symbols on the Short-Term Recall of Pharmacy-Generated Prescription Medication Information in a Low Health Literate Sample

Figures & data

Figure 1 Medication directives with symbols.

Table 1. Recall assessment

1. How many times a day must you take this medication?

2. How long before eating will you take this medication?

3. Must you take this medication with water?

4. Can you take this medication with milk?

5. Must you take all of this medication?

6. Where must this medication be kept or stored?

7. Can you drink alcohol while taking this medicine?

8. If this medication makes you sleepy, what can you NOT do?

Table 2. Group characteristics

	Text-only group (n = 54)	Text with symbols group (n = 54)	Symbols-only group (n = 53)	Total (N = 161)	p
Gender
Male (%)	17 (31.5)	36 (66.7)	23 (43.4)	76 (47.2)	.001*
Female (%)	37 (68.5)	18 (33.3)	30 (56.6)	85 (52.8)
Race
Caucasian (%)	9 (16.7)	8 (14.8)	6 (11.3)	23 (14.3)	.725
African American (%)	45 (83.3)	46 (85.2)	47 (88.7)	138 (85.7)
Age in years	33.8	35.8	31.6	33.8	.440
REALM score	27.06	22.00	24.40	24.48	.245
Insurance status
Private insurance	11.3%	9.6%	5.9%	9.0%	.304
Employer insurance	15.1%	19.2%	17.6%	17.3%
Medicaid	37.7%	15.4%	25.5%	26.3%
Medicare	7.4%	11.5%	3.9%	7.7%
Other government	1.9%	1.9%	0.0%	1.3%
Unknown	0.0%	0.0%	2.0%	0.6%
None	26.4%	42.3%	45.1%	37.8%
Education level
Less than high school degree	72.2%	74.1%	81.1%	75.8%	.955
High school degree or GED	22.1%	22.1%	17.0%	20.5%
More than high school	1.9%	1.9%	0.0%	1.2%
Unknown	1.9%	1.9%	1.9%	1.9%
Refused	1.9%	0.0%	0.0%	0.6%

Table 3. Comparison of groups on dependent variable

	Text-only group (n = 54), M (SD)	Text with symbols group (n = 54), M (SD)	Symbols-only group (n = 53), M (SD)	p
Recall assessment	6.54 (1.40)	6.65 (1.40)	6.36 (1.43)	.392