If doses should be taken with food, specify food’. If doses should be taken with meals, ‘with specify meals’. ‘with Use of verbs Verbs should be used in instructions (for example, tablets’ becomes 2 tablets’, ‘2 ‘Take becomes sparingly’). ‘Sparingly’ ‘Apply Alerts and warnings Alerts or warnings should be included (for example, not take more than 8 tablets in ‘Do 24 hours’). Consumer testing indicated that maximum daily doses can be a source of confusion, especially for liquids. The minimum recommendation is to the number of tablets or volume of liquid (for example, not take more than 8 tablets in 24 hours’, not take more than 40 mL in ‘Do ‘Do 24 hours’). However, for liquids, doses may also be specified in brackets to aid consumers, if necessary (for example, not take more than 40 mL (4 doses) in 24 hours’). ‘Do Order of information These guidelines recommend presenting information in a consistent order. This is true for both clinical and consumer-facing medicines information. However, the order of information is different in consumer-facing medicines information the route of administration should be – moved to become part of the dosing instructions to improve readability. For example: Clinical information systems: 500 mg tablet oral DOSE 2 tablets ‘paracetamol – – – every 6 hours’ Consumer-facing medicines information: 500 mg tablets DOSE Take ‘paracetamol – – 2 tablets by mouth every 6 hours’. Rationale avoid misinterpretation of instructions – Consumers want clear and consistent instructions about how to take their medicines. For most consumers, the most important information is instructions on when and how to take their medicine.
If doses should be taken with food, specify ‘with food’. If doses should be taken with meals, specify ‘with meals’. Use of verbs Verbs should be used in instructions (for example, ‘2 tablets’ becomes ‘Take 2 tablets’, ‘Sparingly’ becomes ‘Apply sparingly’). Alerts and warnings Alerts or warnings should be included (for example, ‘Do not take more than 8 tablets in 24 hours’). Consumer testing indicated that maximum daily doses can be a source of confusion, especially for liquids. The minimum recommendation is to the number of tablets or volume of liquid (for example, ‘Do not take more than 8 tablets in 24 hours’, ‘Do not take more than 40 mL in 24 hours’). However, for liquids, doses may also be specified in brackets to aid consumers, if necessary (for example, ‘Do not take more than 40 mL (4 doses) in 24 hours’). Order of information These guidelines recommend presenting information in a consistent order. This is true for both clinical and consumer-facing medicines information. However, the order of information is different in consumer-facing medicines information – the route of administration should be moved to become part of the dosing instructions to improve readability. For example: Clinical information systems: ‘paracetamol 500 mg – tablet – oral – DOSE 2 tablets every 6 hours’ Consumer-facing medicines information: ‘paracetamol 500 mg – tablets – DOSE Take 2 tablets by mouth every 6 hours’. Rationale – avoid misinterpretation of instructions Consumers want clear and consistent instructions about how to take their medicines. For most consumers, the most important information is instructions on when and how to take their medicine.
National-Guidelines-for-On-Screen-Display-of-Consumer-Medicines-Information-Dec-2017.docx