Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Patient Educ Couns. 2012 Jul;88(1):147-51. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2012.01.006. Epub 2012 Feb 2.
This cross-sectional study investigates the factors associated with patient comprehension of frequently used prescription patterns and explores patients' preferences for the various methods.
We interviewed two hundred and four consenting patients selected consecutively from the waiting rooms of the St. Elizabeth Catholic Hospital-Shisong in the north west region of Cameroon. We recorded socio-demographic data and their understanding and preference for four prescription modalities: pictograms, written out, symbols and Latin abbreviations. We studied the relationship between these variables in a logistic multivariate analysis.
Understanding was best with symbols (89.7%) and worst when Latin abbreviations (26.9%) were used. Higher levels of education were associated with better understanding of Latin abbreviations (OR 18.87; 95% CI 2.44-142.86), written out prescriptions (OR 58.82; 95% CI 23.25-333.33), symbols (OR 1.47; 95% CI 4.25-50.00) and pictograms (OR 52.63; 92% CI 1.85-142.86) after controlling for confounding. Participants mostly preferred pictograms (40.7%) and written-out prescriptions (30.9%).
Latin abbreviations were the most difficult to understand and should no longer be used. Symbols are more easily understood.
Latin abbreviations should be discouraged. Symbols are better, especially for patients with low levels of education. Prescribing using pictograms and plain text may facilitate understanding in this setting.
本横断面研究调查了与患者理解常用处方模式相关的因素，并探讨了患者对各种方法的偏好。
我们连续采访了来自喀麦隆西北部圣伊丽莎白天主教医院希松等候区的 204 名同意参与的患者。我们记录了社会人口统计学数据以及他们对四种处方模式的理解和偏好：象形图、写出、符号和拉丁缩写。我们在逻辑多元分析中研究了这些变量之间的关系。
理解最好的是符号（89.7%），而使用拉丁缩写时理解最差（26.9%）。更高的教育水平与更好地理解拉丁缩写（OR 18.87；95% CI 2.44-142.86）、写出的处方（OR 58.82；95% CI 23.25-333.33）、符号（OR 1.47；95% CI 4.25-50.00）和象形图（OR 52.63；92% CI 1.85-142.86）有关，在控制混杂因素后。参与者大多更喜欢象形图（40.7%）和写出的处方（30.9%）。
拉丁缩写最难理解，不应再使用。符号更容易理解。
应劝阻使用拉丁缩写。符号更好，特别是对于教育程度低的患者。在这种情况下，使用象形图和普通文本开具处方可能有助于理解。
