Application of a Fuzzy Decision Model to the Design of a Pillbox for Medical Treatment of Chronic Diseases

It is critical for medical systems to reduce waste from medical resources. One of the reasons why patients with chronic diseases create waste is that they often forget to take their medicine. Patients pay attention to the time and amount of medicine to take to different degrees. This negligence often affects when they take medicine or preventive drugs. The amount of medicine is also different for different patients. The evaluation model in this study utilizes the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) to obtain the degree (weight) of each evaluation item that is determined by each patient. After that, a more objective overall shape can be determined depending on the individual's preference. In this study, the proposed package design serves as the case study. The results indicate that the evaluation model is feasible, and the research results of the case study are also valuable for follow-up designers. The design of a pillbox for patients with chronic diseases should consider the safety of taking the medicine; that is, the right person should take the right medicine at the right time at the right dose. Therefore, evaluating the feasibility of the pillbox for patients with chronic diseases is very important. The proposed evaluation model applies to products that have different compositions. Follow-up researchers or designers can apply this approach to different case designs.