Abbreviations and symbols in a large sample of medicinal package leaflets: automatic detection and comprehension assessment
Autor(a) principal: | |
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Data de Publicação: | 2015 |
Outros Autores: | , , |
Tipo de documento: | Artigo |
Idioma: | eng |
Título da fonte: | Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
Texto Completo: | http://hdl.handle.net/10451/25017 |
Resumo: | Medicines package leaflets (PL) need to be clear and comprehensible, according to legal recommendations. Abbreviations and symbols (A&S) are not recommended since their use may lead to misunderstandings and medication errors. Objectives: 1) identify, typify and quantify all A&S in a large sample of Portuguese PL, 2) detect discrepancies between these A&S and regulations, and 3) assess how educated individuals interpret A&S found in Portuguese PL. Methods: descriptive and exploratory study. Descriptive study - 531 PL were visually inspected in order to identify all A&S and a computer tool was programmed to count these A&S. All A&S were typified according to classificatory groups (e.g. abbreviations of diseases names) and evaluated according to the regulations. Exploratory study - the interpretation of 373 A&S by 26 undergraduates was assessed with a questionnaire. Results: 828 different A&S were identified (6407 occurrences). The average number of A&S per PL was 12.1 (SD=13.1). Thirteen classificatory groups were built. Non-compliant A&S were found. Only a very low percentage of responses was correct (9.9%). Conclusion: A&S were prevalent in PL, contrary to the international recommendations. A significant number of technical A&S was unfamiliar to a group of educated people. Automatic tools and procedures regarding these readability features should be developed in order to validate PL’s compliance with regulations. |
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Abbreviations and symbols in a large sample of medicinal package leaflets: automatic detection and comprehension assessmentPackage LeafletsReadabilityMedicinal productsAbbreviationsPatient safetyMedicines package leaflets (PL) need to be clear and comprehensible, according to legal recommendations. Abbreviations and symbols (A&S) are not recommended since their use may lead to misunderstandings and medication errors. Objectives: 1) identify, typify and quantify all A&S in a large sample of Portuguese PL, 2) detect discrepancies between these A&S and regulations, and 3) assess how educated individuals interpret A&S found in Portuguese PL. Methods: descriptive and exploratory study. Descriptive study - 531 PL were visually inspected in order to identify all A&S and a computer tool was programmed to count these A&S. All A&S were typified according to classificatory groups (e.g. abbreviations of diseases names) and evaluated according to the regulations. Exploratory study - the interpretation of 373 A&S by 26 undergraduates was assessed with a questionnaire. Results: 828 different A&S were identified (6407 occurrences). The average number of A&S per PL was 12.1 (SD=13.1). Thirteen classificatory groups were built. Non-compliant A&S were found. Only a very low percentage of responses was correct (9.9%). Conclusion: A&S were prevalent in PL, contrary to the international recommendations. A significant number of technical A&S was unfamiliar to a group of educated people. Automatic tools and procedures regarding these readability features should be developed in order to validate PL’s compliance with regulations.Repositório da Universidade de LisboaPires, CarlaVigário, MarinaMartins, FernandoCavaco, Afonso2016-11-10T10:27:03Z20152015-01-01T00:00:00Zinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10451/25017engPires, C., M. Vigário, F. Martins & A. Cavaco (2015) Abbreviations and symbols in medicines package leaflets: evaluating how difficult they are for educated people. Procedia Computer Science, 64: 683-69010.1016/j.procs.2015.08.585info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessreponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãoinstacron:RCAAP2023-11-08T16:14:15Zoai:repositorio.ul.pt:10451/25017Portal AgregadorONGhttps://www.rcaap.pt/oai/openaireopendoar:71602024-03-19T21:42:01.868096Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãofalse |
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
Abbreviations and symbols in a large sample of medicinal package leaflets: automatic detection and comprehension assessment |
title |
Abbreviations and symbols in a large sample of medicinal package leaflets: automatic detection and comprehension assessment |
spellingShingle |
Abbreviations and symbols in a large sample of medicinal package leaflets: automatic detection and comprehension assessment Pires, Carla Package Leaflets Readability Medicinal products Abbreviations Patient safety |
title_short |
Abbreviations and symbols in a large sample of medicinal package leaflets: automatic detection and comprehension assessment |
title_full |
Abbreviations and symbols in a large sample of medicinal package leaflets: automatic detection and comprehension assessment |
title_fullStr |
Abbreviations and symbols in a large sample of medicinal package leaflets: automatic detection and comprehension assessment |
title_full_unstemmed |
Abbreviations and symbols in a large sample of medicinal package leaflets: automatic detection and comprehension assessment |
title_sort |
Abbreviations and symbols in a large sample of medicinal package leaflets: automatic detection and comprehension assessment |
author |
Pires, Carla |
author_facet |
Pires, Carla Vigário, Marina Martins, Fernando Cavaco, Afonso |
author_role |
author |
author2 |
Vigário, Marina Martins, Fernando Cavaco, Afonso |
author2_role |
author author author |
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv |
Repositório da Universidade de Lisboa |
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv |
Pires, Carla Vigário, Marina Martins, Fernando Cavaco, Afonso |
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv |
Package Leaflets Readability Medicinal products Abbreviations Patient safety |
topic |
Package Leaflets Readability Medicinal products Abbreviations Patient safety |
description |
Medicines package leaflets (PL) need to be clear and comprehensible, according to legal recommendations. Abbreviations and symbols (A&S) are not recommended since their use may lead to misunderstandings and medication errors. Objectives: 1) identify, typify and quantify all A&S in a large sample of Portuguese PL, 2) detect discrepancies between these A&S and regulations, and 3) assess how educated individuals interpret A&S found in Portuguese PL. Methods: descriptive and exploratory study. Descriptive study - 531 PL were visually inspected in order to identify all A&S and a computer tool was programmed to count these A&S. All A&S were typified according to classificatory groups (e.g. abbreviations of diseases names) and evaluated according to the regulations. Exploratory study - the interpretation of 373 A&S by 26 undergraduates was assessed with a questionnaire. Results: 828 different A&S were identified (6407 occurrences). The average number of A&S per PL was 12.1 (SD=13.1). Thirteen classificatory groups were built. Non-compliant A&S were found. Only a very low percentage of responses was correct (9.9%). Conclusion: A&S were prevalent in PL, contrary to the international recommendations. A significant number of technical A&S was unfamiliar to a group of educated people. Automatic tools and procedures regarding these readability features should be developed in order to validate PL’s compliance with regulations. |
publishDate |
2015 |
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2015 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z 2016-11-10T10:27:03Z |
dc.type.status.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
dc.type.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
format |
article |
status_str |
publishedVersion |
dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv |
http://hdl.handle.net/10451/25017 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10451/25017 |
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv |
eng |
language |
eng |
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv |
Pires, C., M. Vigário, F. Martins & A. Cavaco (2015) Abbreviations and symbols in medicines package leaflets: evaluating how difficult they are for educated people. Procedia Computer Science, 64: 683-690 10.1016/j.procs.2015.08.585 |
dc.rights.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
eu_rights_str_mv |
openAccess |
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv |
application/pdf |
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv |
reponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação instacron:RCAAP |
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Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação |
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RCAAP |
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RCAAP |
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Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
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Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
repository.name.fl_str_mv |
Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação |
repository.mail.fl_str_mv |
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1799134333522411520 |