Patient information leaflets are meant to help people use their medicines safely. But many people find them confusing, overwhelming or even frightening. If a document designed to keep people safe ends up putting them off their treatment, it’s a sign that something isn’t working.

These leaflets appear in every medicine pack. They explain what the medicine is for, how to take it, and what side-effects to look out for. They should make things clearer. But a growing body of research shows they often do the opposite.

One of the biggest problems is readability. Information leaflets are written at a reading level far higher than most people can comfortably understand. An analysis of leaflets for commonly used medicines found that none met the recommended reading age of around 12 years, and more than half were classed as difficult to read. Only a small minority used plain, accessible language.

When comparing leaflets from the UK, Germany and Turkey, researchers found that they all had the same problem: long, tangled sentences stuffed with jargon. If instructions are hard to follow, people may take the wrong dose, use the medicine incorrectly or stop taking it altogether.

Finding one crucial piece of information can be surprisingly difficult when you are ill, worried or simply trying to work out what to........

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