Testing of Candidate Icons to Identify Acetaminophen-Containing Medicines
1
Pinney Associates, 201 N. Craig Street, Suite 320, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
2
Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
3
Independent market research consultant, Glenview, IL 60026, USA
4
McNeil Consumer Healthcare, 7050 Camp Hill Road, Fort Washington, PA 19034, USA
5
Drug Safety Institute, 200 SE 1st St, Miami, FL 33131, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Keith A. Wilson
Pharmacy 2016, 4(1), 10; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy4010010
Received: 15 September 2015
/
Revised: 18 December 2015
/
Accepted: 19 January 2016
/
Published: 27 January 2016
Adding icons on labels of acetaminophen-containing medicines could help users identify the active ingredient and avoid concomitant use of multiple medicines containing acetaminophen. We evaluated five icons for communication effectiveness. Adults (n = 300) were randomized to view a prescription container label or over-the-counter labels with either one or two icons. Participants saw two icon candidates, and reported their interpretation; experts judged whether these reflected critical confusions that might cause harm. Participants rated how effectively each icon communicated key messages. Icons based on abbreviations of “acetaminophen” (“Ac”, “Ace”, “Acm”) were rated less confusing and more effective in communicating the active ingredient than icons based on “APAP” or an abstract symbol. Icons did not result in critical confusion when seen on a readable medicine label. Icon implementation on prescription labels was more effective at communicating the warning against concomitant use than implementation on over-the-counter (OTC) labels. Adding an icon to a second location on OTC labels did not consistently enhance this communication, but reduced rated effectiveness of acetaminophen ingredient communication among participants with limited health literacy. The abbreviation-based icons seem most suitable for labeling acetaminophen-containing medications to enable users to identify acetaminophen-containing products.
View Full-Text
Keywords:
acetaminophen; icon; label
▼
Show Figures
Figure 1
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
- Supplementary File 1:
Supplementary (PDF, 166 KiB)
MDPI and ACS Style
Shiffman, S.; Cotton, H.; Jessurun, C.; Sembower, M.A.; Pype, S.; Phillips, J. Testing of Candidate Icons to Identify Acetaminophen-Containing Medicines. Pharmacy 2016, 4, 10. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy4010010
AMA Style
Shiffman S, Cotton H, Jessurun C, Sembower MA, Pype S, Phillips J. Testing of Candidate Icons to Identify Acetaminophen-Containing Medicines. Pharmacy. 2016; 4(1):10. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy4010010
Chicago/Turabian StyleShiffman, Saul, Helene Cotton, Christina Jessurun, Mark A. Sembower, Steve Pype, and Jerry Phillips. 2016. "Testing of Candidate Icons to Identify Acetaminophen-Containing Medicines" Pharmacy 4, no. 1: 10. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy4010010
Find Other Styles
Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
