Table 1 Key measures
Construct | Measure | Answer options |
|---|---|---|
Comprehension | The comprehension measures reflected information retrieval, primarily whether participants could locate and understand the information in the handouts. We assessed three issues related to the information in the handout on the drug: (a) side effects; (b) uses; and (c) warnings/topics to discuss with a doctor before taking Rheutopia. and developed subscale scores by counting the number of correct items for each of the side effects, uses and warnings question subsets | We included both true/false questions (e.g., “According to the patient information sheet, people who take Rheutopia can develop dry skin”) and multiple-response questions (e.g., “Please check all the possible Rheutopia side effects mentioned in the handout”). We coded responses as correct or incorrect. The comprehension score is the % of correct answers |
Application | Application questions reflected the participants’ ability to use the information in the handouts to respond to three hypothetical scenarios (e.g., “Jack missed his dose of Rheutopia. According to the patient information sheet, what should Jack do?”) | We coded responses as either correct or incorrect; the application score is the percentage of correct answers |
Perceived clarity | The information about the risks of Rheutopia in the patient information sheet is… The information about the uses of Rheutopia in the patient information sheet is… | 1 = not at all clear 5 = very clear (two items were averaged) |
Perceived ease of understanding | The information about the risks of Rheutopia in the patient information sheet is… The information about the uses of Rheutopia in the patient information sheet is… | 1 = easy to understand, 5 = hard to understand (reverse coded; two items averaged) |
Comprehension confidence | How confident are you that you can understand the information on this sheet? | 1 = not at all confident, 5 = very confident |
Risk likelihood | If 100 people take Rheutopia, how many people will have any side effects? | Response options ranged from 0 to 100 |
Efficacy likelihood | … [for] how many people will Rheutopia improve symptoms of RA? | Response options ranged from 0 to 100 |
Perceived risk magnitude | If Rheutopia did cause a person to have side effects, how serious would they be? | 1 = not serious at all, 5 = very serious |
Efficacy magnitude | How much do you think Rheutopia is going to help the average person’s Rheumatoid arthritis? | 1 = would help RA very little, 5 = would help RA a lot) |
Subjective health literacy (average of 3 items from the European health literacy scale) | On a scale from very easy to very difficult, how easy would you say it is to: understand your doctor’s or pharmacist’s instruction on how to take a prescribed medicine?; follow instructions from your doctor or pharmacist?; understand the information that comes with your medicine? | 1 = very easy, 4 = very difficult 5 = don’t know. (reverse coded) Mean = 3.42 (SD = 0.56), out of 4 |
Perceived illness knowledge | In general, how much would you say you know about [CONDITION]? Would you say you know: | 1 = nothing at all, 5 = a lot. The mean illness knowledge score was 3.63 (SD = 0.98) out of 5 |