Mayhorn Christopher B, Goldsworthy Richard C
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-7650, USA.
Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol. 2007 Jun;79(6):494-506. doi: 10.1002/bdra.20362.
The current research reports on efforts to refine the design of recently developed teratogen warning symbols and to examine their interpretation by different populations such as those with low health literacy, adolescents, and individuals who are not fluent in English.
Alternative symbols identified as most successful in an earlier study were further refined through the use of multiple focus groups and expert review. Six symbols emerged as potential candidates to replace the current symbol. A nationally distributed field trial (n = 700) examined these six alternate teratogen warnings in addition to the symbol presently in use.
Five of the alternate warning symbols exceeded the level of correct interpretation elicited by the current symbol. No symbol exceeded the ANSI limit of 5% critical confusion. Two symbols consistently elicited the most accurate responses in terms of message interpretation, target audience, intended action, and perceived consequences of ignoring the warning.
This effort produced at least two viable alternative symbols that appear to be more effective than the current symbol at communicating both the instruction to not take while pregnant and the consequence that exposure could cause birth defects. Several results varied by participant characteristics. Understanding how members of diverse subpopulations might interact with these warnings should be informative to healthcare professionals.
当前的研究报告了为完善最近开发的致畸物警示标志设计所做的努力，并研究了不同人群（如健康素养较低者、青少年以及英语不流利者）对这些标志的理解情况。
通过多个焦点小组和专家评审，对在早期研究中被确定为最成功的替代标志进行了进一步完善。六个标志成为取代当前标志的潜在候选者。一项全国范围的现场试验（n = 700）除了测试目前使用的标志外，还对这六个替代致畸物警示标志进行了研究。
五个替代警示标志的正确理解水平超过了当前标志所引发的水平。没有标志超过美国国家标准学会（ANSI）规定的5%严重混淆的限制。在信息理解、目标受众、预期行动以及忽视警示的感知后果方面，有两个标志始终引发了最准确的反应。
这项工作产生了至少两个可行的替代标志，在传达孕期不要服用以及接触可能导致出生缺陷这一后果方面，它们似乎比当前标志更有效。一些结果因参与者特征而异。了解不同亚群体成员与这些警示的互动方式，对医疗保健专业人员应具有参考价值。
