TABLE 2.
n (%) | Health Literacy | p-value | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Low Literacy |
Adequate Literacy |
|||
n=235 | n=62 | |||
n (%) | n (%) | |||
Rationale involving comparison of the two medications |
48 (16.2) | 23 (9.8) | 25 (40.3) | <0.001 |
Concerned about overlap in active ingredientb | 31 (10.4) | 13 (5.5) | 18 (29.0) | <0.001 |
Concerned about mixing brandsc | 17 (5.7) | 10 (4.3) | 7 (11.3) | 0.06 |
Rationale involving consideration of child’s symptoms |
181 (60.9) | 145 (61.7) | 36 (58.1) | 0.7 |
Wanted symptoms of child to match symptoms covered by medication |
162 (54.5) | 131 (55.7) | 31 (50.0) | 0.5 |
Wanted medication with a broad range of symptoms covered |
23 (7.7) | 17 (7.2) | 6 (9.7) | 0.6 |
Rationale not related to comparing medications or symptoms, or no rationale given |
131 (44.1) | 112 (47.7) | 19 (30.6) | 0.02 |
Brand recognition | 51 (17.2) | 42 (17.9) | 9 (14.5) | 0.7 |
Time of day of medicine | 54 (18.2) | 44 (18.7) | 10 (16.1) | 0.7 |
Strength of medicine | 3 (1.0) | 3 (1.3) | 0 (0) | 1.0 |
Concern about safety / side effects (unrelated to active ingredient)i |
6 (2.0) | 6 (2.6) | 0 (0) | 0.4 |
Liked the flavor of the medication | 8 (2.7) | 8 (3.4) | 0 (0) | 0.2 |
Child agek | 2 (0.7) | 2 (0.9) | 0 (0) | 1.0 |
Don’t know | 13 (4.4) | 13 (5.5) | 0 (0) | 0.08 |
Total n may not add up to sample n as parents could cite more than 1 reason for choosing a cough and cold medication.
Specifically described concern about potential of giving too much acetaminophen (eg. “the other two have acetaminophen,” “do not want to double dose on acetaminophen”).
Non-specific concern about mixing medication; did not specifically cite overlapping acetaminophen (eg. “can’t mix brands,” “stay with the same brand”).
Named specific symptoms on medication label that were consistent with the child’s symptoms (eg. “because the child has cough and sore throat – matched the symptoms,” “because it treats what he has”).
Mentioned desire to choose a medication which covered multiple symptoms (eg. “Multisymptom covers it all,” “because it is for everything,” “has a wider range of treatment for more symptoms”).
Cited familiarity / brand recognition as one of primary reasons (eg. “I recognize the brand Tylenol,” “because I know the brand,” “I trust Tylenol, the brand”).
Cited medication suitable due to time of day (eg. “because it’s for daytime”).
Cited strength of medication as rationale (eg. “works faster,” “it is a little stronger”).
Expressed concern about side effects (eg. “it has less side effects,” “would not make him drowsy”).
Cited flavor as one of their primary reasons for selecting the medication (eg “Easier to give – child likes grape flavor,” “kids like cherry”).
Cited child age as part of rationale (eg. “more for kids,” “is for the child’s age”).