TY - JOUR
T1 - Effects of Text Enhancement on Reduction of Look-Alike Drug Name Confusion
T2 - A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
AU - Wang, Hailiang
AU - Tao, Da
AU - Yan, Mian
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Humanity and Social Sciences Youth Foundation of Ministry of Education of China (grant no. 20YJCZH146), the Foundation of Shenzhen Science and Technology Committee (grant no.20200813225029002), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 71904062), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, Jinan University (grant no. 21618317).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/7/28
Y1 - 2021/7/28
N2 - Background and Objectives: Drug name confusion induced by look-alike drug names represents a serious health care management problem in practice. Text enhancement by changing visual attributes of look-alike drug names has been proposed and widely applied in practice to mitigate drug name confusion. However, the effectiveness of text enhancement on reducing drug name confusion is yet to be determined. This study aimed to explore the effects of text enhancement on reduction of confusion caused by look-alike drug names through systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: We searched 5 databases (from database inception to January 2020) for empirical studies that examined the effects of text enhancement on reduction of look-alike drug name-induced drug name confusion. The pooled outcome data were analyzed using either meta-analysis or a narrative synthesis approach. Results: From the 351 identified articles, 11 articles representing 20 individual trials were included. Five basic text enhancement methods were revealed, including Tall Man, red, boldface, contrast, and size enhancement, from which 4 Tall Man variants and 6 text enhancement combinations were derived. The meta-analysis results showed significant reduction in omission errors when using Tall Man (standardized mean difference [SMD] = -0.628, 95% confidence interval [CI]: -1.018 to -0.238, P =.002), red (SMD = -0.516, 95% CI: -1.002 to -0.030, P =.038), boldface (SMD = -1.027, 95% CI: -1.240 to -0.814, P <.001), and contrast (SMD = -0.437, 95% CI: -0.869 to -0.004, P = 0.048), as compared with lowercase. This finding was also supported in our subgroup analysis by task type for name differentiation tasks. No other significant effects of text enhancement were found for either commission errors or response time. Conclusions: Using Tall Man, red, boldface, or contrast could help reduce omission errors (ie, wrong medication selection) caused by look-alike drug names, particularly in name differentiation tasks. However, no text enhancement could shorten name search and/or differentiation time. Our findings could facilitate the understanding of the effects of text enhancement in the prevention of confusion errors caused by look-alike drug names and promote the application of text enhancement in practice.
AB - Background and Objectives: Drug name confusion induced by look-alike drug names represents a serious health care management problem in practice. Text enhancement by changing visual attributes of look-alike drug names has been proposed and widely applied in practice to mitigate drug name confusion. However, the effectiveness of text enhancement on reducing drug name confusion is yet to be determined. This study aimed to explore the effects of text enhancement on reduction of confusion caused by look-alike drug names through systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: We searched 5 databases (from database inception to January 2020) for empirical studies that examined the effects of text enhancement on reduction of look-alike drug name-induced drug name confusion. The pooled outcome data were analyzed using either meta-analysis or a narrative synthesis approach. Results: From the 351 identified articles, 11 articles representing 20 individual trials were included. Five basic text enhancement methods were revealed, including Tall Man, red, boldface, contrast, and size enhancement, from which 4 Tall Man variants and 6 text enhancement combinations were derived. The meta-analysis results showed significant reduction in omission errors when using Tall Man (standardized mean difference [SMD] = -0.628, 95% confidence interval [CI]: -1.018 to -0.238, P =.002), red (SMD = -0.516, 95% CI: -1.002 to -0.030, P =.038), boldface (SMD = -1.027, 95% CI: -1.240 to -0.814, P <.001), and contrast (SMD = -0.437, 95% CI: -0.869 to -0.004, P = 0.048), as compared with lowercase. This finding was also supported in our subgroup analysis by task type for name differentiation tasks. No other significant effects of text enhancement were found for either commission errors or response time. Conclusions: Using Tall Man, red, boldface, or contrast could help reduce omission errors (ie, wrong medication selection) caused by look-alike drug names, particularly in name differentiation tasks. However, no text enhancement could shorten name search and/or differentiation time. Our findings could facilitate the understanding of the effects of text enhancement in the prevention of confusion errors caused by look-alike drug names and promote the application of text enhancement in practice.
KW - drug name confusion
KW - look-alike drug name
KW - meta-analysis
KW - systematic review
KW - text enhancement
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85116768208&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1097/QMH.0000000000000303
DO - 10.1097/QMH.0000000000000303
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 34326288
AN - SCOPUS:85116768208
SN - 1063-8628
VL - 30
SP - 233
EP - 243
JO - Quality Management in Health Care
JF - Quality Management in Health Care
IS - 4
ER -