‘It's all there in black and white’ – or is it? Consumer perspectives on the proposed Australian Medicine Information Box over‐the‐counter label format

Abstract

Background Over-the-counter (OTC) labels help support safe medication use by consumers. In 2012, the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) released a consultation paper proposing OTC label standardization to improve label quality via implementation of the Medicine Information Box (MIB) label. However, consumer opinions of the MIB and standardization of OTC labelling remain unexplored.Objective To explore consumer perspectives of OTC label standardization and the proposed MIB.Design Mock MIB labels were developed by the research team, guided by the TGA consultation paper, and used as interview stimulus material.Participants and setting Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 38 Australian and 39 UK adult participants. Participant perspectives on OTC label standardization, opinions on the MIB and perceived improvements were explored. All interviews were audiorecorded with permission, transcribed verbatim, and the content thematically analysed.Results Participants expressed a range of opinions towards OTC label standardization, from welcoming standardization to concern that important details may be overlooked. The MIB was generally positively received due to its perceived good information design and ease of navigation. Participants requested reordering of informationspecifically, for the active ingredient to be moved to a less prominent position. Suggested improvements centred on content and design changes, for example colour, pictograms, bolding.Conclusions Participants felt positively towards OTC label standardization and saw the MIB as a feasible standardized format to implement for OTC labels. Although they appreciated its good information design, they felt further improvements to its content and design are required to enhance its quality and usability. 948

The evaluation of pharmaceutical pictograms among elderly patients in community pharmacy settings – a multicenter pilot study

“…Studies show that the introduction of images to medication leaflets increases the level of patient safety, supplements the information available in the text, and improves understanding of medical information. 16 , 17 Analogous conclusions can be drawn from Ng et al where geriatric patients preferred written information that was supplemented with pictograms, which significantly increased their ability to understand and memorize the relevant medical information. 18 It is worth noting that pictograms can provide support not only in the case of leaflets added to medicinal products, but also via other forms of drug-related information, including highly specialized information, or the one dedicated to patients with specific health needs, for example, dialysis patients.…”

Refining Prescription Warning Labels Using Patient Feedback: A Qualitative Study

“…[ 21 , 26 – 28 ] Also feedback related to design such as the use of color highlighting behind the words versus color highlighting behind the pictures show that it is important to also integrate information design while refining PWLs. [ 11 ] In the past, there has been a lot of focus on enhancing the comprehension of the written content of PWLs, and using pictures/icons to depict the instructions. Our study results show that utilizing color and embedding the color in the right way are other PWL details that are important to patients.…”

“…Pragmatic picture-content messages that complement each other, can improve visual attractiveness, and is not confusing to patients are needed in the redesign of PWLs. [ 11 ]…”

“…[ 1 ] This call has led to research on redesigning medication labels to simplify the language, provide explicit texts, and have distinguishable fonts; core elements for an ideal label design. [ 4 , 7 , 11 – 14 ]…”

Receipt and use of spoken and written over-the-counter medicine information: insights into Australian and UK consumers’ experiences

“…All participants were required to complete tasks related to the user testing of OTC medicine information for either diclofenac or pholcodine. [30] Participants were next prompted to reflect upon their most recent purchase of an OTC medicine from a pharmacy (to minimise recall bias) and were asked to elaborate on the information received and used in relation to this purchase ( Table 1). The interview protocol questions were developed and organised to reflect the treatment continuum, that is from the point of purchase to after the medicine had been used.…”