Strategy proposal of drug color design to improve malpractice and adherence on medication

• Project/Area Number: 24603034
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Design science
• Research Institution: Hyogo University of Health Sciences
• Principal Investigator: MAEDA Hatsuo 兵庫医療大学, 薬学部, 教授 (00229311)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): ISHIZAKI Makiko 兵庫医療大学, 薬学部, 研究員 (20623979)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2014)
• Budget Amount: ¥4,940,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,140,000); Fiscal Year 2014: ¥1,430,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥330,000); Fiscal Year 2013: ¥1,430,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥330,000); Fiscal Year 2012: ¥2,080,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥480,000)
• Keywords: カラーデザイン / 医薬品 / 嗜好性 / 色彩 / 許容範囲 / 錠剤色 / マンセル表色系 / 分散分析 / カラーユニバーサルデザイン / 錠剤

Outline of Final Research Achievements

One of the reasons why patients often take drugs in error or forget to take drugs is the fact that Japanese prescription drugs are colored white or nearly white based on Japanese acceptability against color. But this acceptability has never examined scientifically in details. In this work, we have investigated Japanese acceptability against color of drugs and found that the permissible color ranges against yellow, green yellow, and red purple were narrow in comparison with those against yellow red and blue, leading into determination of the permissible range for all the five color from the standing points of value and chroma.