Bilingual Text With or Without Pictograms Improves Elderly Singaporeans' Understanding of Prescription Medication Labels.
Gerontologist
; 59(2): 378-390, 2019 03 14.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-29190378
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:
In Singapore, primarily English-language prescription medication labels challenge elderly Singaporeans, many of whom are unable to read English. We investigated whether bilingual text and pictograms can help them understand prescription medication labels. RESEARCH DESIGN ANDMETHODS:
We randomized 1,414 elderly respondents of a national survey into four prescription medication labels English-text; English-text-and-pictograms; Bilingual-text; and Bilingual-text-and-pictograms, which were similar except for the addition of another language and/or pictograms (International Pharmaceutical Federation, FIP). Respondents answered 16 label-related questions; an expert panel rated answers for correctness. Outcomes were (1) complete understanding (16 correct); (2) any understanding (≥1 correct); and (3) number of incorrect answers among those with any understanding. We evaluated associations of each prescription medication label (vs. English-text) with outcomes (1), (2), and (3) using logistic and negative binomial regression, respectively.RESULTS:
The elderly respondents were similar across the four prescription medication labels (English-text, English-text-and-pictograms, Bilingual-text, Bilingual-text-and-pictograms), for which the proportions with outcomes (1) and (2) were (17.9%, 25.6%, 36.9%, 40.1%) and (50.4%, 62.6%, 75.9%, 76.5%), respectively. We observed statistically significant higher odds of outcomes (1) and (2) among those assigned the three labels (vs. English-text) English-text-and-pictograms, 1.96 and 2.51; Bilingual-text, 3.54 and 6.73; and Bilingual-text-and-pictograms, 4.51 and 7.93. Those assigned the three labels also had 0.94, 1.98, and 2.12 fewer outcome (3) on average (vs. English-text). DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS Adding bilingual text with or without pictograms on prescription medication labels considerably improved elderly Singaporeans' understanding of the labels, strongly suggesting its application in practice. Other issues in prescription medication labels design and content, including adapting FIP pictograms for elderly Singaporeans, warrant further investigation.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Prescripciones de Medicamentos
/
Comprensión
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Etiquetado de Medicamentos
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Lenguaje
Tipo de estudio:
Clinical_trials
Límite:
Aged
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Aged80
/
Female
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Humans
/
Male
País/Región como asunto:
Asia
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Gerontologist
Año:
2019
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Singapur