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Objective: To develop and validate a set of static and animated gastroduodenal symptom pictograms for children., Study Design: There were 3 study phases: 1: cocreation using experience design methods to develop pediatric gastroduodenal symptom pictograms (static and animated); 2: an online survey to assess acceptability, as well as face and content validity; and 3: a preference study. Phases 2 and 3 compared the novel pediatric pictograms with existing pictograms used with adult patients., Results: Eight children aged 6-15 years (5 female) participated in phase 1, and 69 children in phase 2 (median age 13 years: IQR 9-15); an additional 49 participants were included in phase 3 (median age 15: IQR 12-17). Face and content validity were higher for the pediatric static and animated pictogram sets compared with pre-existing adult pictograms (78% vs 78% vs 61%). Participants with worse gastric symptoms had superior comprehension of the pediatric pictograms (χ 2 [8, N = 118] P < .001). All participants preferred the pediatric static pictogram set was over both the animated and adult sets (χ 2 [2, N = 118] P < .001)., Conclusions: The cocreation phase resulted in the symptom concept confirmation and design of 10 acceptable static and animated gastroduodenal pictograms with high face and content validity when evaluated with children aged 6-18. Validity was superior when children reported more problematic symptoms. Therefore, these pictograms could be used in clinical and research practice to enable standardized symptom reporting for children with gastroduodenal disorders., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest G.O'.G. and A.G. hold grants and intellectual property in Gastrointestinal Electrophysiology. A.G., C.N.A., and G.O'.G. are shareholders and or employees of Alimetry. G.O'.G. is a Director at The Insides Company. The other authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Medication errors can often occur due to the patient's inability to comprehend written or verbal medication orders. This study aimed to develop pictograms of selected medication orders and to validate the comprehension of prescription orders index and compare the comprehension scores with and without pictograms. In addition to determine the predictors that could be associated with a better or worse comprehension of prescription orders with pictograms versus that of their written counterparts., Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a snowball sampling technique. Six pictograms were developed to depict specific medication orders. The comprehension of prescription orders index was constructed and validated. The study then compared the comprehension scores of prescription orders with and without pictograms, and identified the predicting factors score difference., Results: A total of 1848 participants were included in the study. The structure of the comprehension of prescription orders index was validated over a solution of four factors, with an adequate Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy of 0.711 and a significant Bartlett's test of sphericity (P < 0.001). The construct validity of the index was further confirmed by highly significant correlations between each item and the full index (P < 0.001). The study also found a significant association between the difference in comprehension scores for prescription orders with and without pictograms and several factors, including age, level of education, area of residence, number of children, and smoking status with the difference of comprehension scores (P < 0.001)., Conclusion: Pictogram-based instructions of medication orders were better understood by the Lebanese population than written instructions, making the incorporation of pictograms in pharmacy practice paramount to optimize medication use by the patient and thus yielding better health outcomes., (© 2023. BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature.)

Objective: To develop evidence-based recommendations for improving comprehension of quantitative medication instructions., Methods: This review included a literature search from inception to November 2021. Studies were included for the following: 1) original research; 2) compared multiple formats for presenting quantitative medication information on dose, frequency, and/or time; 3) included patients/lay-people; 4) assessed comprehension-related outcomes quantitatively. To classify the studies, we developed a concept map. We weighed 3 factors (risk of bias in individual studies, consistency of findings among studies, and homogeneity of the interventions tested) to generate 3 levels of recommendations., Results: Twenty-one studies were included. Level 1 recommendations are: 1) use visualizations of medication doses for liquid medications, and 2) express instructions in time-periods rather than times per day. Level 2 recommendations include: validate icons, use panels or tables with explanatory text, use visualizations for non-English speaking populations and for those with low health literacy and limited English proficiency., Conclusions: Visualized liquid medication doses and time period-based administration instructions improve comprehension of numerical medication instructions. Use of visualizations for those with limited health literacy and English proficiency could result in improved outcomes., Practice Implications: Practitioners should use visualizations for liquid medication instructions and time period-based instructions to improve outcomes., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

After the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident of 2011, interest regarding radiation safety in everyday life has increased considerably. This study investigates the general public's current level of awareness of six warning pictograms in regard to medical and natural radiation safety utilized under ISO 7010, as per Korea industrial regulations. Namely, it tests whether survey respondents can recognize pictograms related to radiation safety according to their purpose, as their inability to do so poses a serious safety problem. The empirical analysis results regarding the awareness levels for radiation safety pictograms are as follows. First, 63.3% of the respondents were unable to correctly identify the pictograms; that is, their level of understandings of the six pictograms related to everyday radiation were low. Second, the mean score for the correct responses to the question of what the six pictograms indicated in relation to everyday radiation safety was also relatively low, with a mean score of 2.79 and a standard deviation of 1.447. The primary reasons for the low awareness and understanding levels were identified to be insufficient education related to radiation safety in schools. Additionally, it is necessary to revise and rectify current warning pictograms established by the Korea Industrial Standards and ISO 7010. This study is thus significant in that it identifies the level of understanding of the pictograms and suggests the need for improvement as a diversified effort toward improving everyday radiation safety.

Background: Pictograms on medications aim to convey essential information, such as potential risks during pregnancy. However, their comprehension varies significantly based on the culture and health practices of each region. Objective: Evaluate the knowledge, practices, and understanding of pictograms warning about potential hazards associated with medication use during pregnancy in pregnant and non-pregnant women attending a reference Maternal Perinatal Institute in Peru. Method: Observational, crosssectional study with non-random sampling. 409 women were surveyed regarding their knowledge of contraindicated medications during pregnancy, the presence of pictograms, frequency of reviewing package inserts, and interpretation of three U.S. approved pictograms from the Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency, used in products marketed in Peru. Results: 85% of participants knew about prohibited medications during pregnancy, but only 26.5% were aware of pictograms. Understanding the meaning of the pictograms, indicating "prohibited" or "risky during pregnancy," did not exceed 70%. 40.83% assigned an opposite meaning to the least understood pictogram. Reviewing drug leaflets was associated with higher education (p = 0.02) and having at least one child (p < 0.01). Conclusion: Low knowledge and a lack of understanding of pictograms conveying warnings about medication use during pregnancy highlight the need to improve their clarity on product labels. Further research is required to develop understandable pictograms, especially in culturally diverse settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Privacy agreements can foster trust between users and data collecting entities by reducing the fear of data sharing. Users typically identify concerns with their data privacy settings, but due to the complexity and length of privacy agreements, users opt to quickly consent and agree to the terms without fully understanding them. Objective: This study explores the use of pictograms as potential elements to assist in improving the transparency and explanation of privacy agreements. Methods: During the development of the pictograms, the Double Diamond design process was applied for 3 instances of user interactions and 3 iterations of pictograms. The testing was done by performing a comparative study between a control group, which received no pictograms, and an experimental group, which received pictograms. The pictograms were individually tested to assess their efficacy by using an estimated comprehension of information symbols test. Results: A total of 57 participants were recruited for the pictogram evaluation phase. With the addition of pictograms, the overall understanding improved by 13% (P=.001), and the average time spent answering the questions decreased by 57.33 seconds. A 9% decrease in perceived user frustration was also reported by users, but the difference was not significant (μ2 4=4.80; P=.31). Additionally, none of the pictograms passed the estimated comprehension of information symbols test, with 7 being discarded immediately and 5 requiring further testing to assess their efficacy. Conclusions: The addition of pictograms appeared to improve users' understanding of the privacy agreements, despite the pictograms needing further changes to be more understandable. This proves that with the aid of pictographic images, it is possible to make privacy agreements more accessible, thereby allowing trust and open communication to be fostered between users and data collecting entities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Approximately 8% of UK construction workers are from overseas. Migrant workers face several barriers, including language and communication difficulties, which have obvious implications for the management of health and safety (H&S). This paper examines the effectiveness of pictorial aids for communicating hazards and controls to migrant workers on construction sites. A lexicon of critical H&S terms was developed through content analysis of worker induction guidance. A pictorial inventory of images was developed, tailored to the lexicon. The images were tested for comprehension among 50 migrant workers. A threshold of 85% correct interpretations of each image was set. 23 images failed and were altered before retesting to satisfactory levels. Workers from European countries identified more images correctly than workers of African and Indian origin. Workers with less than 5 years' experience scored lower than more experienced workers. Pictorial aids can communicate simple hazards and controls. Cultural differences may distort comprehension. Images should supplement existing communication methods, not substitute them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]