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This study investigated the transparency and translucency of 1,525 pictograms from the Aragonese Portal of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (ARASAAC). A total of 521 participants took part in tasks that involved providing the word that best described the meaning of a pictogram or rating the relationship between a pictogram and a verbal label. This process allowed us to obtain indices of transparency (the quality of pictograms that makes their meaning easily "guessable" in the absence of their referent) and translucency (the degree of perceived relationship between the pictogram and its referent when the latter is present) which were further analyzed to assess their reliability and comparability with similar studies. Additionally, the relationship of those indices with various visual and psycholinguistic characteristics was explored, particularly focusing on the match between the original ARASAAC pictogram names and the most frequently provided names by the participants (modal names) for the pictograms. Results showed relatively low levels of transparency, as well as high levels of translucency, with nouns displaying the highest values in both metrics. For transparency and translucency, word imageability and concreteness were the most correlated factors, and, together with age of acquisition, they were the most important features related to the name matching with ARASAAC. The norms derived from this study enhance our understanding of pictogram perception, empowering stakeholders to leverage data-driven insights for the development and implementation of pictographic systems, thus improving cognitive accessibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Signs, including pictograms, present in public space are intended to enforce a specific behavior. Due to their simplicity and unambiguity of the message, they can be an effective tool of public healthcare. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge referred to the meaning of the sign prohibiting alcohol consumption during pregnancy among first-year medical students who do not have vast knowledge at present level in this field. The study was conducted among academic youth in Poland, and assumed a 5% risk of error, hence, for p

Background: Low comprehension and adherence to medical treatment among the elderly directly and negatively affect their health. Many elderly patients forget medical instructions immediately after their appointments, misunderstand them, or fail to recall them altogether. Some identified causes include the short time slots allocated for appointments in the public health system in Chile, the complex terminology used by healthcare professionals, and the stress experienced by patients during appointments. One approach to improving patients' adherence to medical treatment is to combine written and oral instructions with graphical elements such as pictograms. However, several challenges arise due to the ambiguity of natural language and the need for pictograms to accurately represent various medication combinations, doses, and frequencies. Objective: This study introduces SIMAP (System for Integrating Medical Instructions with Pictograms), a technological framework aimed at enhancing adherence among asthma patients through the delivery of pictograms via a computational system. SIMAP utilizes a collaborative and user-centered methodology, involving health professionals and patients in the construction and validation of its components. Methods: The technological framework presented in this study is composed of three parts. The first two are medical indications and pictograms related to the treatment of the disease. Both components were developed through a comprehensive and iterative methodology that incorporates both qualitative and quantitative approaches. This methodology includes the utilization of focus groups, interviews, paper and online surveys, as well as expert validation, ensuring a robust and thorough development. The core of SIMAP is the technological component that leveraged artificial intelligence methods for natural language processing to analyze, tokenize, and associate words and their context to a set of one or more pictograms, addressing issues such as the ambiguity in the text, the cultural factor that involves many ways of expressing the same indication, and typographical errors in the indications. Results: Firstly, we successfully validated 18 clinical indications along with their respective pictograms. Some of the pictograms were redesigned based on the validation results. However, in the final validation, the comprehension percentages of the pictograms exceeded 70%. Furthermore, we developed a software called SIMAP, which translates medical indications into previously validated pictograms. Our proposed software, SIMAP, achieves a correct mapping rate of 96.69%. Conclusions: SIMAP demonstrates great potential as a technological component for supplementing medical instructions with pictograms when tested in a laboratory setting. The use of artificial intelligence for natural language processing can successfully map medical instructions, both structured and unstructured, into pictograms. This integration of textual instructions and pictograms holds promise for enhancing the comprehension and adherence of elderly patients to their medical indications, thereby improving their long-term health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the transparency and translucency of 1,525 pictograms from the Aragonese Portal of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (ARASAAC). A total of 521 participants took part in tasks that involved providing the word that best described the meaning of a pictogram or rating the relationship between a pictogram and a verbal label. This process allowed us to obtain indices of transparency (the quality of pictograms that makes their meaning easily “guessable” in the absence of their referent) and translucency (the degree of perceived relationship between the pictogram and its referent when the latter is present) which were further analyzed to assess their reliability and comparability with similar studies. Additionally, the relationship of those indices with various visual and psycholinguistic characteristics was explored, particularly focusing on the match between the original ARASAAC pictogram names and the most frequently provided names by the participants (modal names) for the pictograms. Results showed relatively low levels of transparency, as well as high levels of translucency, with nouns displaying the highest values in both metrics. For transparency and translucency, word imageability and concreteness were the most correlated factors, and, together with age of acquisition, they were the most important features related to the name matching with ARASAAC. The norms derived from this study enhance our understanding of pictogram perception, empowering stakeholders to leverage data-driven insights for the development and implementation of pictographic systems, thus improving cognitive accessibility.

The article explores the politicization of pictograms in indigenous community communication, emphasizing their role in fostering dialogue and collective knowledge. Topics include participatory design, representation of knowledge, and collaboration with marginalized communities, showcasing a contextualized approach to design practice that engages with socio-political dimensions.

The social inclusion of persons with disabilities is a priority in a growing number of countries. Their level of autonomy, with or without technical aids, is an essential criterion of its success. Pictograms are the technical aids of choice for persons with intellectual disabilities. The coherence of the pictographic tool is essential to the user-friendliness of such aids. Pictogram-based solutions are not only useful for persons with intellectual disabilities. They can be used by all those who have difficulties reading, such as illiterate persons, tourists, senior citizens, children, refugees, asylum-seekers, etc. Taken together, they can represent up to 30% of the population.

Answering the strong need for insight into how minors can effectively be informed about advertising (e.g., influencer marketing) in online content, we ran an online experiment (N = 623 minors between 8 and 18 years old) testing the effects of two pictograms that were designed in co-creation with minors and the potential of an awareness campaign to boost the pictogram’s effectiveness. Our findings provide three important insights that have implications for theory, practice, and regulation. First, we find that minors are able to distinguish between sponsored and non-sponsored videos, indicating that they have developed some level of advertising literacy in this context. Second, our study shows that the two pictograms informing minors about advertising in online videos went unnoticed by most viewers and did not enhance conceptual or attitudinal advertising literacy. Third, the awareness campaign did not lead to higher recognition of the pictograms nor enhanced advertising literacy. The campaign did increase minors’ understanding of the meaning of the pictograms. However, the majority of minors also understood the pictograms without the campaign. Based upon our findings, we argue that pictograms are unnoticed by most minors and seem ineffective in enhancing minors’ advertising literacy. Although an awareness campaign can familiarize minors with pictograms and their implementation in online videos, it does not seem to boost the pictogram’s effects on advertising literacy.

Abstract 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

Piotr Merks,1 Regis Vaillancourt,2 Irene Dulai,2 Gloria Lamontagne,3 Jarosław Pinkas,4 Urszula Religioni,4 Dariusz Świetlik,5 Justyna Kaźmierczak,6 Eliza Blicharska,7 Mike Zender,8 Jameason Cameron2 1Department of Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Collegium Medicum, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland; 2Pharmacy Department, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; 3Biomedical Sciences Faculty, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; 4School of Public Health, Centre of Postgraduate Medical Education of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland; 5Department of Biostatistics and Neural Networks, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland; 6Zdrowit Sp. Z O.o, Pharmacy Chain, Piekary Śląskie, Poland; 7Department of Pathobiochemistry and Interdisciplinary Applications of Ion Chromatography, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland; 8School of Design, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USACorrespondence: Urszula Religioni, School of Public Health, Centre of Postgraduate Medical Education of Warsaw, Kleczewska 61/63, Warsaw, 01-826, Poland, Tel +48225693700, Email urszula.religioni@gmail.comIntroduction: Pain is both difficult to see and to articulate and this is challenging for both patients and clinicians. The aim of this study was to develop and test pictograms to describe different pain qualities.Methods: 22 pictograms were developed for evaluation based on pain qualities of the short form McGill Pain Questionnaire, version 2 (SF-MPQ-2). An online matching survey was conducted and disseminated via social media in 2021.Results: An overall matching of 66% or higher between pictogram and pain qualities descriptors was considered a proper matching. This study was carried out internationally (males = 57, age=41y.o. ± 16; females = 155, age=41y.o.± 17) and in Poland (males=49, age =35y.o.± 17; females = 164, age=35y.o.± 16). There were 14 pictograms that did not achieve 66% matching in any country. 8 pictograms mutually in all subgroups achieved a matching score of ≥ 66% regardless of geographic location, sex, income, or education level.Discussion and Conclusions: These 8 pictograms can be used clinically once they have been redrawn to improve consistency, and future research in the design of pictograms representing pain qualities of the SF-MPQ-2 should focus on design improvements for the remaining 14 pain qualities with poor comprehensibility.Keywords: pain, pictograms, health literacy, SF-MPQ-2, pain comprehension

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]

Copyright of Religación: Revista de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades is the property of Religacion: Revista de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Social media, which reaches the world, is believed to be an informal method in learning the English language. As 56.8% of the world's population is active on social media, which equals to approximately 4.47 billion persons, this could be a large and wide possibility to be an English language learning platform. The method chosen to conduct this research is qualitative using discourse analysis, where a group of fifteen seniors aged 40-60 years old, with high school education level residing in Manado, North Sulawesi, and surrounding areas were selected as participants. The participants were asked to fill out questionnaires and interviews regarding their use of Facebook and WhatsApp and their interest in the use of English while using social media. The findings of the study showed that participants used social media mainly for expressive types of speech acts such as greetings, apologies and congratulations. The participants also tended to use the features of the social media that allowed them to express emotions mostly in pictograms, with an English word of expression, pictures, and emoticons. In addition, the plurilingual practice was also observed in the use of mixed codes which served to enhance the mutual understanding and interactions among the participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Low comprehension and adherence to medical treatment among the elderly directly and negatively affect their health. Many elderly patients forget medical instructions immediately after their appointments, misunderstand them, or fail to recall them altogether. Some identified causes include the short time slots allocated for appointments in the public health system in Chile, the complex terminology used by healthcare professionals, and the stress experienced by patients during appointments. One approach to improving patients’ adherence to medical treatment is to combine written and oral instructions with graphical elements such as pictograms. However, several challenges arise due to the ambiguity of natural language and the need for pictograms to accurately represent various medication combinations, doses, and frequencies. Objective: This study introduces SIMAP (System for Integrating Medical Instructions with Pictograms), a technological framework aimed at enhancing adherence among asthma patients through the delivery of pictograms via a computational system. SIMAP utilizes a collaborative and user-centered methodology, involving health professionals and patients in the construction and validation of its components. Methods: The technological framework presented in this study is composed of three parts. The first two are medical indications and pictograms related to the treatment of the disease. Both components were developed through a comprehensive and iterative methodology that incorporates both qualitative and quantitative approaches. This methodology includes the utilization of focus groups, interviews, paper and online surveys, as well as expert validation, ensuring a robust and thorough development. The core of SIMAP is the technological component that leveraged artificial intelligence methods for natural language processing to analyze, tokenize, and associate words and their context to a set of one or more pictograms, addressing issues such as the ambiguity in the text, the cultural factor that involves many ways of expressing the same indication, and typographical errors in the indications. Results: Firstly, we successfully validated 18 clinical indications along with their respective pictograms. Some of the pictograms were redesigned based on the validation results. However, in the final validation, the comprehension percentages of the pictograms exceeded 70%. Furthermore, we developed a software called SIMAP, which translates medical indications into previously validated pictograms. Our proposed software, SIMAP, achieves a correct mapping rate of 96.69%. Conclusions: SIMAP demonstrates great potential as a technological component for supplementing medical instructions with pictograms when tested in a laboratory setting. The use of artificial intelligence for natural language processing can successfully map medical instructions, both structured and unstructured, into pictograms. This integration of textual instructions and pictograms holds promise for enhancing the comprehension and adherence of elderly patients to their medical indications, thereby improving their long-term health.

This study aims to assess the effectiveness of the pesticide labels (pictograms and color codes) and the technical sign-related practices among the farming community in Lebanon. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between November 2021 and October 2022 among 104 farmers from three Lebanese provinces. An Arabic survey (score-based questionnaire) was conducted to evaluate the farmers' levels of understanding the pesticide labels (pictograms and color codes) and relevant practices to pesticide labels. Spearman correlation and One-Way ANOVA were applied to determine the statistical correlation between farmers' understanding and practice levels and their significant differences in gender, age, provinces, educational level, and attendance of training programs. Results: It was found that the majority of the participants showed moderate levels of understanding (71.2%) and practices (75%). Spearman's correlation analysis concluded a weak correlation between the understanding and performance levels (p < 0.05). Comparative analyses showed higher levels of label pictograms' understanding and label-related practices with a significant difference (p < 0.05) among younger and well-educational farmers. However, training programs significantly enhanced the farmers' practices only. Incidence of irritations-to-poisoning symptoms was self-reported as consequences of misinterpretations and misuse of pesticides. Conclusion: The study findings highlighted the limited effectiveness of pictograms and color codes in Lebanon and thereby highlighted the necessity of training programs addressing the knowledge of technical signs among farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: From the perspective of prevention, knowledge of the hazardousness of chemicals and the potential negative effects they can produce is essential to be able to assess their risks and take measures to reduce them. Objective: To critically approach the fundamental aspects of the different systems for the classification, identification and communication of hazards and risks in the handling of dangerous substances. Materials and Methods: A compilation of the main systems developed and applied internationally (European Union, United Nations Organization, United States Fire Protection Agency, American Association of Coating and Paints of the United States and the Globally Harmonized System). Results and Discussion: In each one of them the shape and color combination of the pictograms, the symbols and icons used, warning words and letters, as well as the phrases to communicate the dangers or risks, compatibility and the precautionary recommendations are detailed. Due to its current status and increasingly extensive use worldwide, is detailed the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemical products (GHS). Conclusions: The GHS is a logical approach to chemical classification; it significantly enhances the proper, clear and easily understandable communication of chemical hazards, the protection of human health and the environment, and the management of chemicals by providing a single, standardized and harmonized system for classifying chemicals and developing labels and MSDSs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Answering the strong need for insight into how minors can effectively be informed about advertising (e.g., influencer marketing) in online content, we ran an online experiment (N =623 minors between 8 and 18 years old) testing the effects of two pictograms that were designed in co-creation with minors and the potential of an awareness campaign to boost the pictogram-s effectiveness. Our findings provide three important insights that have implications for theory, practice, and regulation. First, we find that minors are able to distinguish between sponsored and non-sponsored videos, indicating that they have developed some level of advertising literacy in this context. Second, our study shows that the two pictograms informing minors about advertising in online videos went unnoticed by most viewers and did not enhance conceptual or attitudinal advertising literacy. Third, the awareness campaign did not lead to higher recognition of the pictograms nor enhanced advertising literacy. The campaign did increase minors' understanding of the meaning of the pictograms. However, the majority of minors also understood the pictograms without the campaign. Based upon our findings, we argue that pictograms are unnoticed by most minors and seem ineffective in enhancing minors' advertising literacy. Although an awareness campaign can familiarize minors with pictograms and their implementation in online videos, it does not seem to boost the pictogram's effects on advertising literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The signs and pictograms designed by Otl Aicher and his team for the Munich Olympics in 1972 are regarded as a milestone in design history. With this work, Aicher responded to what he thought were the most important challenges for signs and pictograms during the 1960s: the lack of grammar and visual clarity. He had specific ideas about this which he expressed in his designs as well as in his writings. So far, these ideas have hardly been explored. This study critically reconstructs the origins, development, and presentation of Aicher's ideas about signs and pictograms for the Munich Olympics. In these designs, he tried to resolve his love for geometry with his desire to develop a functional sign language. His work in this area represents a pivotal moment in modern design during the 1960s, in which modernist designers switched their preference from abstract sign systems to pictogram systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the experiences of developing and using pictograms as visual devices to support Indigenous communities of Amazonian Ecuador. It recognizes the imbalances and contradictions amidst the complex histories and identities of a Latin American state such as Ecuador. The authors emphasize the need to decolonize the design activist imagination and highlight two key issues. The first is in appreciating how historicity operates in this context. The authors show how a non-teleological, historical consciousness is central to processes of deliberation and collaboration. Secondly, they introduce the concept of 'militant design research' to understand the role of the activist researcher in this context. These reflections challenge European and North American conceptions of design activism and social design. Consequently, the design-researcher's subject position shifts away from an extractivist mode and, instead, commits to the tensions and Indigenous political processes within which the pictograms function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To assess pharmacy student opinion of the routine use of pictograms for counselling and communicating medicine-related information. Methods: A Google Forms survey was sent to co-ordinators at five Pharmacy Schools who distributed the link to 152 students following their 5-day work placement. The survey included Likert Scale and open questions on prior pictogram exposure, their usefulness in practice and their design. Key findings: Opinion of pictogram usefulness in facilitating communication with patients was positive, with 104 (95.4%) rating their usefulness as good/excellent. Students noted language and low literacy as communication barriers which pictograms helped to mitigate. Only 24.8% (N = 27) reported that using pictograms required extra time during the dispensing process. Most students reported that patients liked the pictograms and found it easy to teach patients the pictogram meaning to clarify verbal and written medicine-related information. Pictograms were regarded by most students as simple, clear, culturally acceptable and able to communicate their core message clearly. A third agreed that they should have additional detail and be more realistic, some offered suggestions for modification. Many suggested expanding pictogram use to primary care clinics and hospitals. Conclusions: This study presents unique finding relating to the role and value of pictograms in practice. Opinion of routine pictogram use was largely positive, particularly given significant language and literacy barriers in this rural population. The extra time taken using pictograms was generally not regarded as a barrier to their adoption. Pictogram quality and design were considered to be good, with expanded use of pictograms suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is no term for bloating in Spanish and distension is a very technical word. "Inflammation"/"swelling" are the most frequently used expressions for bloating/distension in Mexico, and pictograms are more effective than verbal descriptors (VDs) for bloating/distension in general GI and Rome III‐IBS patients. However, their effectiveness in the general population and in subjects with Rome IV‐DGBI is unknown. We analyzed the use of pictograms for assessing bloating/distension in the general population in Mexico. Methods: The Rome Foundation Global Epidemiology Study (RFGES) in Mexico (n = 2001) included questions about the presence of VDs "inflammation"/"swelling" and abdominal distension, their comprehension, and pictograms (normal, bloating, distension, both). We compared the pictograms with the Rome IV question about the frequency of experiencing bloating/distension, and with the VDs. Key Results: "Inflammation"/"swelling" was reported by 51.5% and distension by 23.8% of the entire study population; while 1.2% and 25.3% did not comprehend "Inflammation"/"swelling" or distension, respectively. Subjects without (31.8%) or not comprehending "inflammation"/"swelling"/distension (68.4%) reported bloating/distension by pictograms. Bloating and/or distension by the pictograms were much more frequent in those with DGBI: 38.3% (95%CI: 31.7–44.9) vs. without: 14.5% (12.0–17.0); and in subjects with distension by VDs: 29.4% (25.4–33.3) vs. without: 17.2% (14.9–19.5). Among subjects with bowel disorders, those with IBS reported bloating/distension by pictograms the most (93.8%) and those with functional diarrhea the least (71.4%). Conclusions & Inferences: Pictograms are more effective than VDs for assessing the presence of bloating/distension in Spanish Mexico. Therefore, they should be used to study these symptoms in epidemiological research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Language & Law / Revista de Llengua i Dret is the property of Revista de Llengua i Dret and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Environnement, Risques & Santé is the property of John Libbey Eurotext Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract Background and objective Medication use often causes errors that are dangerous to the health of patients. Previous studies indicate that the use of pharmaceutical pictograms can effectively reduce medication errors. The purpose of this study was to determine the comprehensibility, representativeness, and recall rate of nine medication safety pictograms in a sample of nursing students in Poland in order to validate these images. Methods A pictogram validation study was conducted in two phases among nursing students at the Hipolit Cegielski State University of Applied Sciences, Gniezno, Poland. All experimental protocols were approved by the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Ethics Board (REB Protocol No: 19/122X). All methods were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations. In phase 1, the participants' first exposure to the pictograms, the students were asked to guess the meaning of the pictograms without any additional information in order to assess the pictograms' comprehensibility. To be considered valid, according to ISO standards, the pictograms had to be correctly understood by at least 66.7% of participants. After testing all pictograms, students were given explanations and meanings of the pictograms and asked to rate the representativeness of pictograms. To do so, participants were asked to select a number on a seven-point Likert-style scale to indicate the perceived strength of the relationship between the pictogram and its intended meaning for each pictogram. To be considered valid, a pictogram had to be rated at least five on this scale by at least 66.7% of participants. Phase 2 took place four weeks later, during which recall of the intended meaning and representativeness were assessed following the same procedure. Results A total of 66 third-year nursing students participated in both phases. In phase 1, of the nine pictograms, six met ISO requirements for comprehensibility and seven met ISO requirements for representativeness. In phase 2, all nine pictograms were correctly understood and rated at least 5 by at least 66.7% of participants. Therefore, all nine pictograms are considered valid. Conclusions The nine medication safety pictograms can be deployed, but must be combined with training and a written hazard statement to improve comprehension.

Introduction: cognitive accessibility is part of the overall accessibility framework. Cognitive accessibility means that services are simple, coherent, clear, multimodal, error tolerant and focused, taking into account all users. Aims: to validate a questionnaire on cognitive accessibility to be applied to health professionals. Methods: the study has a quantitative approach, with a non-experimental and cross-sectional design, developed in the period between March and June 2022. The sample consisted of 130 health professionals in Argentina, selected by means of purposive sampling. Results: the validation process was carried out in three stages. The analysis of internal consistency (reliability) was performed through Cronbach’s Alpha. The descriptive results with the 17 items showed a variance of each item of 4,445, a total variance of 13,049, with a total Cronbach’s Alpha of 0,701, showing that the instrument presents internal consistency. Conclusions: it was possible to verify that the scores of both Cronbach’s Alpha and the factorial analysis, allow affirming that the instrument has the necessary metric aspects to be used in future research, taking into account that the instrument had a previous evaluation by expert criteria. It can be considered that this article becomes the starting point for future studies, in which it is intended to continue the line of research, which allows the analysis of cognitive accessibility in the context of health professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancións para Medrar aims to provide a resource for teaching the Galician language in early childhood education. It is based on the lack of specialized playful linguistic resources for children from 0 to 6 years old. For this, the creation of resources in the form of original and unpublished songs, animated videos and pictograms is proposed. Children within this age scope from the autonomous community of Galicia need more material in their language (first or second, as the case may be) to work from the preschool classroom and to use as a leisure resource at home. This situation hinders the acquisition of specific grammatical and phonological structures and causes difficulties in the mastery of the language. Thanks to this material, it will be possible to have resources designed by experts in both language acquisition and music that adapt to the needs of this audience. [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]

The present research seeks to understand how different types of pictograms can represent their objects in various ways, as well as having a variety of processes of interpretation in the face of the affection of signs. The solution proposed to this proposal ensues through a literature review regarding the classes of signs in Peircean semiotics. Taking into consideration that pictograms are visual signs, it is possible to understand that their intention is to represent a certain object for an interpreting mind as they seek to represent a certain concept collectively. This study is focused on the analysis of universal pictogram in six airport systems and six Olympic systems made by Rosa in which he obtained four methods of creating pictogram systems to ensure their formal coherence. With Rosa's proposal and analysis, it is possible to deepen the philosophical knowledge about sign classification of pictograms, classifying them within the trichotomies of signs proposed by Peirce and later developed by Lucia Santaella and Winfried Nöth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) is a fundamental principle in the management of Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, significantly improving the quality of life for individuals living with the virus. However, the success of ART crucially depends on patient adherence to complex medication regimens that come with the therapy. Patients must meticulously adhere to their prescribed treatment plans to maintain viral suppression and prevent the progression of HIV. Medication adherence, a multifaceted challenge in healthcare, becomes particularly entangled within the realm of ART. Patients are often prescribed a combination of antiretroviral medications, each with unique dosing schedules and dietary requirements as instructed by the physician. For individuals with varying levels of health literacy, language proficiency, and cultural backgrounds, comprehending and adhering to these regimens can be overwhelming and challenging. Non-adherence to these medications can result in treatment failure, drug resistance, and compromised health outcomes that burden the healthcare systems. In that perspective, the role of pictograms as visual aids emerges as part and parcel of patient education and counseling within healthcare systems. Pictograms are graphical representations of concepts or actions designed to transcend linguistic and literacy barriers. When used in conjunction with ART, they simplify complex medication instructions, empower patients with knowledge, and improve adherence. Generally, the role of pictograms in supporting medication adherence and patient counseling in antiretroviral therapy is a powerful testament that serves a purpose in bridging communication and literacy gaps within the healthcare systems. By simplifying complex medication regimens, empowering patients with knowledge, and fostering adherence, pictograms contribute to better health outcomes and the overall success of ART. As healthcare providers and systems continue to harness the potential of pictograms, patient education and adherence in the management of HIV and other chronic conditions stand to be greatly enhanced., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

Background: Clinicians are often advised to use pictographs to communicate risk, but whether they offer benefits when communicating risk imprecision (e.g., 65%-79%) is unknown. Purpose: To test whether any of three approaches to visualizing imprecision would more effectively communicate breast and ovarian cancer risk for BRCA1 pathogenic variant carriers. Methods: 1,300 UK residents were presented with a genetic report with information about BRCA1-related risks, with random assignment to one of four formats: no visualization (text alone), or a pictograph using shaded icons, a gradient, or arrows marking range endpoints. We also tested pictographs in two layouts. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and regression was employed. Results: There was no effect of format. Participants shown pictographs vs. text alone had better uptake of breast cancer risk messages (p < .05, η2 = 0.003). Pictographs facilitated memory for the specific amount of risk (p < 0.001, η2 = 0.019), as did the tabular layout. Individuals not having completed upper secondary education may benefit most. Conclusions: We found weak evidence in favor of using simple pictographs with ranges to communicate BRCA risk (versus text alone), and of the tabular layout. Innovation: Testing different ways of communicating imprecision within pictographs is a novel and promising line of research.

Background The use of pharmaceutical pictograms to enhance patients’ understanding of drug regimens has been proven effective in many countries. There are two reference systems for pictograms generally used in pharmacy: the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) and International Pharmacy Federation (FIP). This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of USP and FIP pictograms among adults in the Philippines by identifying how many pictograms would pass the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) criterion of 85% comprehension, and to describe the factors affecting pictograms’ comprehension. Methods A descriptive cross-sectional research using a face-to-face interview was performed to evaluate 108 pictograms in 52 Filipino adults enrolled through quota sampling. Descriptive statistics, Mann–Whitney U test (Wilcoxon rank-sum test), univariate linear regression, and multiple linear regression were used to statistically analyze the data collected. Results Only 17 (16 USP and 1 FIP) out of the 108 pictograms (15.74%) passed the ANSI criterion. The median score of Filipinos was 71 out of 108 pictograms (Interquartile range: 10–96). The multivariate model (R 2 = 0.5645, F (4,47) = 15.23) suggested that the score was lower by 5.85 points if the user was female, 21.58 points lower if the participant was below Grade 12 education level, and 1.20 points lower if the patient was greater than 46 years old. Education level was identified as the significant predictor (p-value

Everyone needs to rely on elements in their context to move around their own environment with independence. People with permanent or temporary comprehension difficulties need specific support to be able to do so. Pictograms are some of the supports that can render a context cognitively and universally accessible. They are signs which need to be validated using standardized norms such as ISO 9186. This study aimed to increase the number of pictograms available for signposting buildings, and to evaluate their accessibility. Data were collected both via online interviews and self-administered questionnaires, in two phases: assessment of comprehensibility and translucency, and perceptual quality. A total of 1462 participants assessed the pictograms' comprehension and 270 evaluated their perceptual quality. The sample included individuals of different groups and cognitive profiles. One hundred and fifty one pictograms were evaluated and 55 were selected after fulfilling comprehension, translucency, and perceptual quality criteria. The study is a relevant contribution to the database of pictograms available for use in private and public buildings and provides a group of validated signs that can benefit everyone by facilitating cognitive accessibility in spatial environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Number needed to treat (NNT) is a clinically useful "yardstick" used to gauge the efficacy of therapeutic interventions. The objective of this project was to develop and pilot a series of pictograms and assess their impact on pharmacist understanding of the NNT. Three decision aids containing NNT pictograms were developed following a preliminary literature review and three focus groups with current Australian-registered pharmacists and pharmacist interns. Pharmacists then tested the pictograms in a research pilot in clinical encounters until (1) ≥ 3 sessions had occurred or (2) a two-week period had elapsed from commencement. Knowledge assessment was administered both pre- and post-pilot. Transcription and inductive thematic analysis were applied to focus group data. Descriptive statistics, Wilcoxon signed rank, and McNemar's tests were used to analyse the pilot data. Six core themes regarding NNT decision aid development were identified with >80% consensus across three focus groups (N = 11). Comparison of the pre-post measures (n = 10) showed an increase in median scores after use of NNT decision aids, correlating to a moderate Cohen classified effect size (d = 0.54). Wilcoxon matched pairs test demonstrated a statistically insignificant influence of NNT pictograms on the knowledge assessment survey (P >.05). While the NNT is not a new concept, its incorporation as part of pictograms for health practitioner enrichment is novel. This pilot study suggests that utilizing decision aids with NNT pictograms as counselling adjuncts appears promising in the realm of enhancing pharmacists' understanding of the NNT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Religación: Revista de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades is the property of Religacion: Revista de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In crisis situations, illiterates and people with other linguistic challenges are unable to understand text messages to inform or be informed of a situation. Pictographic interfaces have been proposed as a solution for empowering these marginalized and vulnerable populations, including elderly, people with disabilities, and foreigners. In this paper, we follow up on previous work and investigate the comprehensibility and appropriateness of prototypical complex alerting and reporting pictographs. We present results of a field study with illiterate people in Sri Lanka and the Philippines. We show that complex representations can very well be understood with respect to incident and severity, especially if context objects are shown. Additionally, we identify several aspects where further research is needed. We discuss the findings and propose further steps toward designing pictograph-based communication, especially on mobile devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is no translation for bloating in Spanish, and distension is very technical. Aims: To evaluate pictograms for assessing bloating/distension in patients with general gastroenterology (Study 1, n = 88) and in those with irritable bowel syndrome [IBS] (Study 2: n = 144), and to correlate them with verbal descriptors (VDs) and physician's diagnosis (PDx). Methods: Patients answered the Rome III Questionnaire with VDs and pictograms, and were consulted by two gastroenterology fellows (PDx). Correlations were conducted with Cohen's kappa, and ROC curves were used to contrast pictograms and VDs with PDx. Results: "Inflammation" was the most frequent VDs, while distension was commonly interpreted as a sensation ("inflammation") and/or increased abdominal girth. In patients not reporting bloating/distension with VDs, pictograms detected these symptoms in (Study 1 and Study 2) 82.2 and 89.6% of patients. In addition, pictograms showed a positive agreement with PDx, kappa: 0.63 (p < 0.0001) and 0.8 (p < 0.0001); and a negative agreement with VD, kappa: −0.45 (p = 0.05) and −0.1 (p = 0.2), respectively, in studies 1 and 2. Pictograms were more sensitive and specific than VDs (Study 1: ROC = 0.90 (95% CI: 0.80–0.96), p < 0.0001 versus 0.74 (0.62–0.88), p < 0.0001; Study 2: 0.99 (0.98–1.00), p = 0.004 versus 0.32 (0.10‐0.54), p = 0.294). Conclusions: Pictograms are more effective than Spanish VDs for bloating/distension in patients consulting for gastroenterology problems and those with IBS, supporting their usefulness in the clinic and research studies. There are no expressions for bloating in languages such as Spanish, and distension is very technical for patients to understand. Generic pictograms detected bloating/distension in more than 82% of patients who did not report them with verbal descriptors, and they were more sensitive and specific than verbal descriptors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Liquid medication dosing errors (LMDE) made by caregivers affect treatment in children, but this is not a well-studied topic in many low-and middle-income countries including in India. Methods An intervention study was conducted among mothers attending a pediatric outpatient clinic of a tertiary care setting in Ujjain, India. The mothers randomly measured 12 volumes of a paracetamol liquid preparation by using a dropper (0.5 and 1 mL), measuring cup (2.5 and 5 mL), and calibrated spoon (2.5 and 5 mL) each with two instructions—oral-only measurement session (OMS) and oral plus pictogram measurement session (OPMS, the intervention). The main outcome was dosing error prevalence. The effectiveness of the intervention was assessed by measuring effect size. Risk factors for maximum LMDE were explored using backward multivariate logistic regression models. A P value of

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]