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Age and Ageing Advance Access originally published online on May 30, 2009
Age and Ageing 2009 38(4):441-447; doi:10.1093/ageing/afp065
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Geriatrics Society. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Typeface legibility of patient information leaflets intended for community-dwelling seniors

Adriana Chubaty1, Cheryl A. Sadowski2 and Anita G. Carrie3

1 University of Alberta Hospital, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2B7, Canada
2 Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Alberta, 3126 Dentistry/Pharmacy Centre, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2N8, Canada
3 Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH), Edmonton, Alberta T5J 3G1, Canada

Address correspondence to: Cheryl A. Sadowski. Tel: (+1) 780 492 5078; Fax: (+1) 780 492 1217. Email: csadowski{at}pharmacy.ualberta.ca

Background: there are guidelines available from a number of countries and organisations regarding the design of written information, as appropriate design is essential for effective communication. The design of leaflets should be evaluated, as written information that does not adhere to guidelines may not be effective for seniors.

Objective: to use current typeface guidelines to describe the design of health information leaflets.

Design: this was a cross-sectional study of leaflets from pharmacies and seniors’ clinics.

Setting: community pharmacies, seniors’ clinics in Edmonton, Canada.

Methods: health information leaflets and hydrochlorthiazide information sheets were collected. The body of each was evaluated, based on guidelines (from Canada, UK and USA). Adherence to recommendations was assessed descriptively.

Results: a total of 388 unique leaflets and 10 hydrochlorthiazide sheets were collected from 21 pharmacies and 3 clinics. Most leaflets were produced by pharmaceutical companies (42.8%) and contained disease information (43.8%). Only one-third of all leaflets used the minimum recommended point size (12 point), 18.6% followed American guidelines for line spacing (1.5 lines), but 77.1% had appropriate contrast.

Conclusions: although guidelines are available, most leaflets did not meet recommendations. Improvements in the leaflet design should be considered to aid seniors in the uptake of information.

Keywords: leaflets, geriatric, seniors, aged, vision, elderly

Received 10 July 2008; accepted in revised form 13 March 2009.


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