title: Identification of different shapes, colors and sizes of standard oral dosage forms in diabetes type 2 patients-A pilot study.
abstract: The clear identification of drug products by the patients is essential for a safe and effective medication management. In order to understand the impact of shape, size and color on medication identification a study was performed in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D). Ten model drugs differentiated by shape, size and color were evaluated using a mixed method of medication schedule preparation by the participants followed by a semi-structured interview. Detection times were fastest for the large round tablet shape and the bi-chromatic forms. Larger size was easier to identify than the smaller sizes except for the bi-chromatic forms. The shape was the major source of errors, followed by the size and the color dimension. The results from this study suggests that color as a single dimension are perceived more effectively by subjects with T2D compared to shape and size, which requires a more demanding processing of three dimension and is dependent on the perspective.
authors.affiliation: Graz University of Technology, Institute of Powder and Particle Engineering, Inffeldgasse 13, 8010, Graz, Austria. Electronic address: sven.stegemann@tugraz.at.
authors.forename: Sven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stegemann
authors.affiliation: Medical University of Graz, Institute for Medical Informatics, Statistics and Documentation, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Regina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Riedl
authors.affiliation: Medical University of Graz, Division of Endocrinology and Diabetology, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Harald
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sourij
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003116:Color; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004304:Dosage Forms; D004348:Drug Labeling / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008508:Medication Errors / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000737:chemistry*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D019338:Polypharmacy; D013499:Surface Properties; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis
chemical_list: D004304:Dosage Forms; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations
keywords: Drug recognition; Drug safety; Effectiveness; Medication error; Medicine identification; Product differentiation