Improving the legibility of prescription medication labels for older adults and adults with visual impairment.

OBJECTIVES: Most current prescription labels fail to meet print guidelines, especially in print size. We therefore compared the legibility of current prescription medication labels against the legibility of prototype labels, based on current guidelines for legibility. METHOD: Sample medication labels were obtained from pharmacies, and prototype medication labels were developed according to legibility guidelines from nongovernmental organizations and pharmacy organizations. Three groups of participants, consisting of older adults with normal vision, older adults with visual impairment and younger adults with visual impairment (total N = 71) took part. Participants were asked to read and rank the labels. Reading speed and accuracy were determined. RESULTS: Accuracies were high (75%-100%), and there were no significant differences between samples or prototypes or between groups. Prototypes, however, were read faster than samples (p < 0.001). Subjectively, participants preferred the largest print option (p < 0.001) and instructions with the numbers written in highlighted uppercase words (p < 0.001). DISCUSSION: The results indicate that improvements to the label would include larger print size, a consistent layout with left justification and using upper case with highlighting for emphasis of the numbers in the instructions.

The legibility of prescription medication labelling in Canada: Moving from pharmacy-centred to patient-centred labels.

INTRODUCTION: The legibility of medication labelling is a concern for all Canadians, because poor or illegible labelling may lead to miscommunication of medication information and poor patient outcomes. There are currently few guidelines and no regulations regarding print standards on medication labels. This study analyzed sample prescription labels from Ontario, Canada, and compared them with print legibility guidelines (both generic and specific to medication labels). METHODS: Cluster sampling was used to randomly select a total of 45 pharmacies in the tri-cities of Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge. Pharmacies were asked to supply a regular label with a hypothetical prescription. The print characteristics of patient-critical information were compared against the recommendations for prescription labels by pharmaceutical and health organizations and for print accessibility by nongovernmental organizations. RESULTS: More than 90% of labels followed the guidelines for font style, contrast, print colour and nonglossy paper. However, only 44% of the medication instructions met the minimum guideline of 12-point print size, and none of the drug or patient names met this standard. Only 5% of the labels were judged to make the best use of space, and 51% used left alignment. None of the instructions were in sentence case, as is recommended. DISCUSSION: We found discrepancies between guidelines and current labels in print size, justification, spacing and methods of emphasis. CONCLUSION: Improvements in pharmacy labelling are possible without moving to new technologies or changing the size of labels and would be expected to enhance patient outcomes.