Typographic Changes in Package Leaflets of the European Union Based on the Example of German Versions Between 2005 and 2015

Abstract

Background:

Typography significantly influences the legibility and usability of patient information. This study investigated the implementation and changes of different typographic subjects in package leaflets used in the European Union.

Methods:

A randomly selected sample of all German package leaflets investigated in 2005 was reanalyzed in 2015 for different important and predefined typographic subjects.

Results:

The 138 package leaflets revisited in 2015 showed significant increases in word count (average 2551 words), font size (1.43 mm x-height, 2.0 mm cap-height), line spacing (3.13 mm), use of text attributes (for example, lists in 94.2% and bold print in 83.2% package leaflet’s body text), use of light-condensed or condensed font (34.1%), and use of portrait format (81.9%) (P ≤ .015). Otherwise, line length significantly decreased to on average 62.6 characters per line (P = .012) and the classes of fonts used remained almost unchanged.

Conclusion:

To achieve any further increase of package leaflet font size and other typographic improvements, a significant decrease in text volume is essential. To this end, replacing the current 840-word QRD template with a 200-word version would allow optimization of typography in all package leaflets, without deleting information essential for patients or incurring any unfavorable format increase.