As a translation agency that specializes in medical and life science translation, we work on a lot of patient targeted materials. Often these communications hope to elicit patient compliance in some form or another. Many aspects about a patient influence their compliance: culture and language, education level, style of commucation they receive.
A recent experimental study through the Know Your Limit campaign in the United Kingdom indicates that a patient’s noncompliance may not always be a conscious decision.
When asking men and women in the U.K. to pour what they thought was a single serving equivalent of alcohol (25ml, about an ounce in the US), the average pour was 38ml (in reality one and half servings).
The experiment found men to be the most generous in measuring their spirits: 43ml was the average manly pour versus an average of 32ml poured by women. Wine is a different story altogether, in this case women are more generous, averaging a 186ml pour, which is 2.4 times the standard wine serving of 76.25ml (2.5 ounces in the US).
Studies show drinking more than the recommended limit for daily alcohol consumption; (2-3 units for women and 3-4 units for men in the U.K.) dramatically increases their risk of heart and liver disease, cancer, and stroke.
Anyone tracking their alcohol consumption for the purpose of maintaining their health may not be doing as well as they thought. While this finding does not affect the outcome of a clinical trial or important health study, it is an insight into patient behavior. The truth is patient compliance is affected by many aspects, some conscious, some not.
