Readability of Drugs and Chemicals Package Inserts Information: A Survey of the Nigerian Market

Abstract

Background: Readability of package inserts (PIs) of drugs, chemicals, reagents, vaccines and similar products is yet to receive adequate attention as little or no concern is accorded to font sizes of leaflet designs especially in the developing nations. Print is the medium for visual reading. Print size has been of interest to typographers and to vision researchers Simplicity in information dissemination in global health delivery services should not be compromised as problems associated with poor designs of PIs resulting in high rate of misinformation of patients and users of agrochemical products need s urgent intervention. Methods: The study examined a total of 1,769 PIs of pharmaceutical and chemical products in Nigeria. These were collected during the months of October 2016 through January 2018 and font size determined by comparison with the Jaeger eye chart. Results: The distribution of various drugs according to class and chemicals/reagents and vaccine leaflets depicts the general population of the sample with 1443 and 326 respectively, while PIs were printed in font size between N.5. and N.24. PI’s N.5. – N.8. was significantly more (63.41%); (62.42%) than N.10. – N.12. (34.37%); (27.61%). F-ratio equals 8.81544; 2.04748(P-values 0.05), thus a statistically significant difference between the means of the 8 variables at 95.0% confidence level. Conclusions: The package inserts studied do not meet up with readability standard, thus, there exits an infringement on the right of consumers to receive information. A general font size of at least 10-12 to range is suggested for NAFDAC’ S adoption.