Designing Effective Warnings about Addiction on the Patient Information Leaflet of Over-the-Counter Codeine Sold in England to University Students

Jianan Zhao, Yun Chen, Ting Han and Stephen Westland
Additional contact information
Jianan Zhao: School of Design, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
Yun Chen: School of Design, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
Ting Han: School of Design, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
Stephen Westland: School of Design, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 15, 1-17

Abstract: (1) Background: The harm of misusing over-the-counter (OTC) codeine-containing medicines among university students in England is being increasingly recognized. Based on English university students, this paper aims to study the importance of information design on information communication, explore methods for effective warning design, and investigate university students’ perception of OTC codeine. (2) Methods: The effective warning design is addressed through case studies, answering correctness by the heat map generated from the eye-tracking experiment (ETE), and the total time spent on the tasks. User perceptions are made though online surveys. (3) Results: Information design significantly affects the way user processes information. Therefore, two emphasized warnings displayed in the headline, and the “possible side effect (PSE)” sections and warning signs of addiction presented under the PSE are suggested as effective ways to display warnings. For students’ perception of OTC codeine, 80% of university students are unfamiliar with the substance. After reading the patient information leaflets (PILs), 47% recommended tight regulation on codeine. (4) Conclusions: The misuse of OTC codeine could be a potential problem among English university students. The design of the PIL significantly influences the chance of unintentional medicine misuse. The display of warnings on the PILs of OTC codeine should be redesigned for better understanding.

Keywords: patient education; medication management and safety; university students; codeine; patient information leaflet; over the counter (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/15/5490/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/15/5490/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:15:p:5490-:d:391762

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().