title: Efficacy of contrasting background on a drug label: A prospective, randomized study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Medication error can occur due to fault at any level starting from manufacturing until the administration to the patient. It can be difficult to read the drug name and other information from an ampoule, if there is poor contrast between the font color and background of the ampoule. Primary aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of the contrast color on the ampoule's label.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was conducted in a randomized blinded manner at a tertiary level trauma center. One hundred and eight resident doctors participated in the study. All the participants were divided into two groups after randomization. Group A was given the original drug ampoule while the modified ampoule with contrast was given to Group B. Total time in reading the ampoule and difficulty in reading (DR) scoring were noted for each participant. Another scoring regarding correct reading of ampoule was also noted and compared.
  
  
  METHODS
  Student's t-test and Mann-Whitney test were used accordingly and P < 0.05 was considered as significant.
  
  
  RESULTS
  It was found that mean time taken in reading the original ampoule was more compared to modified ampoule (11.64 ± 1.48 vs. 9.48 ± 1.62 seconds P < 0.05). DR score was also higher in Group A (P < 0.05) and correct reading score was more in Group B (P < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The labels on drug ampoules or vials should always have a contrasting background. This may reduce medication error and improve patient safety.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesia and Critical Care, Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Center, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Babita
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesia and Critical Care, Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Center, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Surender Kumar
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesia and Critical Care, Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Center, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Saurabh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Suri
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Center, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Kamran
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Farooque
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesia and Critical Care, Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Center, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Naveen
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yadav
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Center, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Mahesh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Misra
keywords: Ampoule; contrasting background; drug error; label