Development of Prescription Drug Information Leaflets: Impact of Cognitive Effort and Patient Involvement on Prescription Medication Information Processing

Objective: The objective of this study was to develop a one-page (1-page) prescription drug information leaflet (PILs) and assess their impact on the information processing variables, across 2 levels of patient involvement. Methods: One-page PILs were developed using cognitive principles to lower mental effort and improve comprehension. An experimental, 3 x 2 repeated measures study was conducted to determine the impact of cognitive effort, manipulated using leaflet type on comprehension across 2 levels (high/low) of patient involvement. Adults (>= 18 years) in a university setting in Houston were recruited for the study. Each participant was exposed to 3 different types of prescription drug information leaflet (the current practice, preexisting 1-page text-only, and 1-page PILs) for the 3 drugs (Celebrex, Ventolin HFA, Prezista) for a given involvement scenario. A prevalidated survey instrument was used to measure product knowledge, attitude toward leaflet, and intention to read. Results: Multivariate analysis of variance indicated significant positive effect of cognitive effort, involvement, and their interaction effect across all measured variables. Mean scores for product knowledge, attitude toward leaflet, and intention to read were highest for PILs (P < .001), indicating that PILs exerted lowest cognitive effort. Univariate and post hoc analysis indicate that product knowledge significantly increases with high involvement. Conclusion: Patients reading PILs have higher comprehension compared with the current practice and text-only prototype leaflets evaluated. Higher levels of involvement further improve participant knowledge about the drug, increase their intention to read the leaflet, and change their attitude toward the leaflet. Implementation of PILs would improve information processing for consumers by reducing their cognitive effort.