JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The medication package leaflet is the most used and trusted source of information in the home situation but is often incomprehensible for individuals, especially for those with limited health literacy. The platform ‘Watchyourmeds’ comprises an online library with over 10,000 animated videos that explain the most essential information from the package leaflet in an unambiguous and simple manner to increase the accessibility and understandability of package leaflets.

Objective:

This study aimed to investigate Watchyourmeds from a user perspective during the first year of implementation by investigating (1) usage data, (2) user experiences, and (3) the preliminary and potential impact on medication knowledge.

Methods:

This was a retrospective observational study. The first aim was investigated by examining objective user data from 1,815 pharmacies from the first year of implementation of Watchyourmeds. User experiences (second aim) were investigated by examining individuals' completed self-report questionnaires via two datasets (n=4,926 & n=4,324). The preliminary and potential impact on medication knowledge (third aim) was investigated by examining users' self-report questionnaire data (n=67) that assessed their medication knowledge about their prescribed medication.

Results:

Nearly 1,8 million videos have been distributed to users by over 1,400 pharmacies, with monthly numbers increasing to 280,000 in the last month of the implementation year. Most users (92.5%) indicated to have fully understood the information presented in the videos. Female users reported more often to have fully understood the information than male users (X24=11.5, P=.02). Most users (76.2%) said they did not think any information was missing in the video. Users with a lower educational level stated more often (85.6%), compared to users with a middle (80.0%) or higher (78.4%) educational level, that they did not seem to be missing any information in the videos (X212=70.6, P<.001). Eighty-four percent of the users stated they would like to use Watchyourmeds more often and for all their medication, or would like to use it most of the time. Male users and older users stated more often that they would use Watchyourmeds again for other medication than the female (X23= 25.0, P<.001) and younger users (X23=38.1, P<.001) respectively. Almost 88% of the users would recommend the online library to friends, family or acquaintances. Regarding the third aim, results showed that 73.8% of the questions assessing users’ medication knowledge were answered correctly.

Conclusions:

The results of this study suggest that an online library with animated videos is a valuable and acceptable addition to stand-alone package leaflets to increase understanding and accessibility of medication information.