USING ICONS TO CONVEY MEDICATION SCHEDULE INFORMATION

We examined older adult comprehension and memory for medication schedu les conveyed by different types of visual icons as well as text. Three icons were compared: a timeline, a pair of 12 h clocks (one for AM an d one for PM hours), and a 24 h clock. In Experiment 1, older and youn ger participants paraphrased and then recalled schedules that were con veyed by the three icons or by text, Text and timeline schedules were paraphrased more accurately than either clock icon. Paraphrase errors suggested that subjects had trouble integrating schedule information a cross the two 12 h clocks. Analysis of paraphrase times showed that th e text schedule was paraphrased most quickly, followed by the timeline , the 24 h clock and the 12 h clock. No differences were found for the accuracy of recalling the icon and text schedules. Experiment 2 exami ned free and cued recall after Limited study time by older adults. Bec ause text superiority in Experiment 1 may have reflected greater famil iarity with text than with icons, recall was examined across four tria ls in Experiment 2. Text was recalled most accurately, followed by the timeline, the 24 h clock and the 12 h clock. Study-test trials did no t influence recall. Text schedules may have been generally more effect ive than the icons because of their greater familiarity. The timeline may have been the most effective icon because it was more compact and familiar than the clock icons used in the study. The findings suggest that including such icons in medication instructions requires training . Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.