Publication: EVALUATION OF MODIFIED UNITED STATES PHARMACOPOEIA PHARMACEUTICAL PICTOGRAMS COMPREHENSIONS AMONG THE INDIVIDUALSWITH CHRONIC MEDICAL CONDITIONS LIVING IN KLANG VALLEY, MALAYSIA
Date
2023
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
International Medical University
Abstract
Pharmaceutical pictograms are pictorial interventions that aid in patient counselling
and education, which have been proven to improve medication adherence and
understanding of medication information. This intervention could benefit individuals with
chronic medical conditions, which often deal with polypharmacy, possibly leading to nonadherence
to medication behaviours. The objective of this research is to evaluate the USPmodified
pharmaceutical pictograms comprehension among individuals with chronic
medical conditions in Klang Valley, Malaysia, thus establishing a feasible set of
pharmaceutical pictograms among the Malaysian population. This cross-sectional study
was conducted through an online questionnaire via a convenience sampling method from
April to July 2023. Twenty-three modified USP pharmaceutical pictograms were used in
this study. The inclusion criteria of participants were individuals with chronic medical
conditions of age 18 and above, any gender, or ethnicity, living in Klang Valley, Malaysia,
diagnosed with any chronic medical conditions, and receiving medicines at least for last
one year. The data collected included the socio-demographics of participants, transparency,
and translucency of each pictogram. Pearson’s correlation test and Spearman’s rank
correlation test were performed to analyse the data. A total of 115 participants were
included in this study after excluding sixteen participants who did not meet the inclusion
criteria. Overall, 16 (69.5%) out of 23 pictograms met both the transparency and
translucency criteria, and hence were considered valid. All the pictograms (100%; 10 out
of 10) depicting the dose and frequency of administration were deemed valid. On average,
the majority of participants with chronic medical conditions were able to achieve
comprehensibility of at least 66% correct responses on depicting the pictograms.
Pictograms that did not meet the validity requirement need further modification. The study recommends that future studies should be conducted on a wider population and should
focus on the utilization of pharmaceutical pictograms into real practice.
Keywords: Evaluation, Malaysia, Pharmaceutical Pictograms, Chronic Medical
Conditions, Medications.
Description
Keywords
Pharmacopoeia, Chronic Disease, Cross-Sectional Studies, Poster