Interpretation of consumer's perception on readability of Consumer Medical Information Leaflets on obesity and lipid lowering drugs with standard methods

Aim

Printed education materials are often used to augment healthcare professional's verbal information to consumers so it serves as an important component of symptom management. They also enhance the teaching process and can be used by consumers as a home reference. This study was aimed to interpret consumers' perception on Consumer Medical Information Leaflets (CMILs) on obesity and lipid lowering drugs, according to the standard formulae such as Flesch Reading Ease (FRE), Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level (FK-GL).

Method

The study was conducted over a period of 3 years in community pharmacy settings in Tamil Nadu, India. CMILs were interpreted by using the formulae such as Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) and Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level (FK-GL). Among the 1800 consumers, 300 consumers were excluded from the study due to lack of interest.

Results

Data revealed the consumer's perception on readability of Consumer Medical Information Leaflets on obesity and lipid lowering drugs based consumers rating.

Conclusions

Pharmaceutical companies (leaflets providers) are not taking the reading level of consumers into consideration which may not achieve the intended purpose. There is a need for developing CMILs having good readability score according to Indian set up.