Enhancement of medication recall using medication pictures and lists in telephone interviews

SUMMARY Purpose To determine the effect of reading medication lists and providing medication pictures on recall of non-aspirinnon-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NANSAIDs) during telephone interviews in a case–control study.Methods After a series of indication-specific questions, a list of all available NANSAIDs was read to study participantsand a series of pictures was reviewed when available. Recall was defined as enhanced if a participant recalled NANSAID useonly after the memory aids.Results Among the 1484 participants who reported NANSAID use, 94 (6.3%) recalled their NANSAID use only after thememory aids. Several groups demonstrated enhanced recall following the memory aids: men (odds ratio (OR): 1.73; 95%confidence interval (CI): 1.11, 2.69), users of non-prescription versus prescription NANSAIDs (OR 2.28; 95% CI: 1.21,4.30), those using>2 other medications (OR 1.69; 95% CI: 1.06, 2.69), those who did not have all of their medication contain-ers available during the interview (OR 1.58; 95% CI: 1.03, 2.42) and cases versus controls (OR 1.90; 95% CI: 1.11, 3.28).Conclusion The reading of medication names with the availability of medication photographs enhanced recall by approxi-mately 6%. The use of this type of memory aid may reduce recall bias in case–control studies that rely on medication recall,depending on the overall prevalence of medication use and the effect size of the drug on the outcome. Copyright #2003 JohnWiley & Sons, Ltd.key words—anti-inflammatory agents; non-steroidal; case–control studies; epidemiologic methods; memory