Effects of Pictograms on Patients' Information Acquisition and Preferences in Package Inserts of Over-the-counter Drugs

抄録

The purpose of this study is to determine the influence of package inserts of over-the-counter incorporating pictograms on information acquisition and preference. In this study, elderly (mean age=73.0 years) consumers were read one of the 3 inserts (A: insert with pictograms, B: insert with greater spacing between paragraphs, C: insert with larger font size) and asked to perform two information acquisition tasks: (a) Information recalling test, and (b) Information searching test. Afterwards, participants were given all inserts and asked to rank them according to preference using Scheffe's method of paired comparison. Results of Information recalling test shows that the correctness of Group A was significantly higher than that of Group B and C. Information searching test revealed that Group A had an accurate positioning rate that was significantly higher than those of Group B and C. The results of Scheffe's method of paired comparison show that the presence of pictograms was found to contribute positively to preference.