And the Answer Is...
Answer: Front
Patients prefer large medication warning labels with big fonts highlighted by color backgrounds that are stuck to the front of prescription medication bottles, where they’re more likely to notice them. They also want labels to contain pictorial icons that match the written instructions and believe use of the word “warning” would draw their attention to the label’s directives. That’s according to 21 adult patients who researchers recently asked to rate the features of various warning labels. The study examined the importance of presenting information about safe medication use in ways that patients prefer and understand, because unclear labeling is one of the leading causes of the 1.5 million preventable adverse drug events that occur in the United States each year, according to lead author Dr. Olayinka Shiyanbola, an assistant professor in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. There are no published guidelines or federal standards that dictate the content and appearance of prescription warning labels, noted Dr. Shiyanbola. She said the misunderstanding of medication directives will continue to occur until the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) calls for the standardization of patient-centered labels. The breadth and depth of the opinions collected from the study’s participants clearly showed that patient feedback is paramount to the refinement of newly designed labels, noted Dr. Shiyanbola. She also admitted that it’s impossible to include all patient preferences in the redesign of warning labels, so pharmacists still need to engage patients in conversations about medication warning instructions.
—Dan Cook
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