Use of pictorial advice to promote compliance to diet and drugs among illiterate and migrant patients

摘要

Illiterate people are at high risk for inappropriate drug use. We aimed at enabling diabetic patients who were illiterate and/or migrants to understand diet and drugs prescription through the use of Icons. We evaluated two communication tools among 40 migrant patients who were unable to read and speak Italian and had to understand medical prescriptions either by being assisted by a health care provider or by looking at the study tools. Ninety-six percent subjects with study tools and 46% subjects with usual prescription plus operator's aid understood the prescription (P<0.01). At follow up, 90% with study tools vs 60% with usual prescription were still compliant and took drugs appropriately (P<0.01). By using the pictogram , diet and drug advice was simplified , consultation time was accelerated by using pictogram and patient 's compliance was improved.