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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Note: Critical Factors in Opening Pharmaceutical Packages: a Usability Study among Healthcare Workers, Women with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Elderly Women

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This cross-sectional study compared the usability of pharmaceutical packages to determine the critical factors involved in packages with different opening mechanisms. Four packaging types (a bottle with a screw cap, a box with a pill plate, disposable plastic droppers with a container and a jar with a hinge cap) were evaluated by 45 women (nurses, older women and women with rheumatoid arthritis). Usability was evaluated for subjective measures related to the ease of opening and for objective measures related to the time needed to open the packaging, electrical muscular activity (electromyography, EMG) and ranges of motion of the upper extremities. Of the arthritic women, 13% were unable to open the screw-cap bottle, and 20% did not succeed in opening the plastic dropper packaging. Everyone else, except one older woman handling the plastic dropper packaging, managed to open all the packages. Regarding the ease of opening, the participants gave the plastic dropper packaging the lowest rating (p < 0.001). The arthritic women used greater relative biomechanical strain while opening the screw cap bottle and the box with pill plate compared with the other participants (p < 0.05), with the relative muscular strain in the forearm varying by 29–40% for the maximal EMG activity and the relative range of motion in the wrist being 70–90% of the maximal range of motion. These findings revealed both subjectively and objectively measured features on the usability of pharmaceutical packages. The comprehensibility of the opening mechanism and the ease of handling the package should be considered when user-friendly products are being created. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.