American Journal of Nursing Science

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A Pictogram-Based Intervention to Reduce Parental Liquid Medication Errors: Health Literacy Approach

Received: 31 May 2013    Accepted:     Published: 10 July 2013
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Abstract

Evidence suggests that parents and caregivers make frequent errors when administering liquid medications to children. These errors, which include inaccurate dosing as well as non-adherence to medication regimens, place children at risk for morbidity and mortality. The study aim to explore the effectiveness of pictogram based intervention in reducing caregivers’ liquid medication errors as well as the extent to which health literacy impacts medication errors. Quasi-experimental study of caregivers (n=250) of young children (<6 years) enrolled at primary pediatric clinic in Zagazig University hospital. A total of 250 caregivers (121 standard medication counseling and 129 pictogram based intervention) were assessed for health literacy by means of the Newest Vital Sign measure; 84.4%% had low health literacy (Newest Vital Sign score 0-3). Pictogram based intervention recipients were less likely to make errors in knowledge related to medication storage (26.6% vs. 63.3%) dose frequency (20.2% vs. 25%), and preparation compared with caregivers of standard medication counseling recipients (12.8% vs. 31.7%). Pictogram was an efficient way to reduce the prevalence of caregivers' liquid medication errors.

DOI 10.11648/j.ajns.20130203.12
Published in American Journal of Nursing Science (Volume 2, Issue 3, June 2013)
Page(s) 27-32
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Pictogram, Intervention, Medication Errors, Pediatric Caregiver, Parents, Health Literacy

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Hanan Mohamed Mohamed Tork. (2013). A Pictogram-Based Intervention to Reduce Parental Liquid Medication Errors: Health Literacy Approach. American Journal of Nursing Science, 2(3), 27-32. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajns.20130203.12

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    ACS Style

    Hanan Mohamed Mohamed Tork. A Pictogram-Based Intervention to Reduce Parental Liquid Medication Errors: Health Literacy Approach. Am. J. Nurs. Sci. 2013, 2(3), 27-32. doi: 10.11648/j.ajns.20130203.12

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    AMA Style

    Hanan Mohamed Mohamed Tork. A Pictogram-Based Intervention to Reduce Parental Liquid Medication Errors: Health Literacy Approach. Am J Nurs Sci. 2013;2(3):27-32. doi: 10.11648/j.ajns.20130203.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajns.20130203.12,
      author = {Hanan Mohamed Mohamed Tork},
      title = {A Pictogram-Based Intervention to Reduce Parental Liquid Medication Errors: Health Literacy Approach},
      journal = {American Journal of Nursing Science},
      volume = {2},
      number = {3},
      pages = {27-32},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajns.20130203.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajns.20130203.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajns.20130203.12},
      abstract = {Evidence suggests that parents and caregivers make frequent errors when administering liquid medications to children. These errors, which include inaccurate dosing as well as non-adherence to medication regimens, place children at risk for morbidity and mortality. The study aim to explore the effectiveness of pictogram based intervention in reducing caregivers’ liquid medication errors as well as the extent to which health literacy impacts medication errors. Quasi-experimental study of caregivers (n=250) of young children (<6 years) enrolled at primary pediatric clinic in Zagazig University hospital. A total of 250 caregivers (121 standard medication counseling and 129 pictogram based intervention) were assessed for health literacy by means of the Newest Vital Sign measure; 84.4%% had low health literacy (Newest Vital Sign score 0-3). Pictogram based intervention recipients were less likely to make errors in knowledge related to medication storage (26.6% vs. 63.3%) dose frequency (20.2% vs. 25%), and preparation compared with caregivers of standard medication counseling recipients (12.8% vs. 31.7%). Pictogram was an efficient way to reduce the prevalence of caregivers' liquid medication errors.},
     year = {2013}
    }
    

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    JF  - American Journal of Nursing Science
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    AB  - Evidence suggests that parents and caregivers make frequent errors when administering liquid medications to children. These errors, which include inaccurate dosing as well as non-adherence to medication regimens, place children at risk for morbidity and mortality. The study aim to explore the effectiveness of pictogram based intervention in reducing caregivers’ liquid medication errors as well as the extent to which health literacy impacts medication errors. Quasi-experimental study of caregivers (n=250) of young children (<6 years) enrolled at primary pediatric clinic in Zagazig University hospital. A total of 250 caregivers (121 standard medication counseling and 129 pictogram based intervention) were assessed for health literacy by means of the Newest Vital Sign measure; 84.4%% had low health literacy (Newest Vital Sign score 0-3). Pictogram based intervention recipients were less likely to make errors in knowledge related to medication storage (26.6% vs. 63.3%) dose frequency (20.2% vs. 25%), and preparation compared with caregivers of standard medication counseling recipients (12.8% vs. 31.7%). Pictogram was an efficient way to reduce the prevalence of caregivers' liquid medication errors.
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Author Information
  • Dept of Paediatric Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Zagazig University, Egypt

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