Anesthesia

Synonyms / Other Terms Used

Anaesthesia, Sedation, Anesthesiology, Anaesthesiology, Anesthesiologist, Anaesthetist, Department of Anesthesiology

Category

Public Services, Public Facilities, Health Care, Clinical Facilities

Message / Function

To indicate a medical specialty concerned with the total perioperative care of patients before, during and after surgery

	Source	Description
	Adrien Coquet	Side view of human figure on bed, two z above, cross inside circle below
	Nur Rohman	Side view of upper part of human figure on bed with cover, medical gas mask connected to stand
43	Hablamos Juntos	Side view of upper part of human figure, medical gas mask indicated by arc, line of dots indicating gas also reaching brain
A)	SEGD/HJ	Side view of head, medical gas mask with hose
	MintSW	Side view of head, medical gas mask with hose, all in outline
	Pike Picture	Side view of head, medical gas mask with hose, three elements indicating sedation/unconciousness
	SDA 1999	Frontal view of head, medical gas mask with hose attached, bubbles indicating sedation/unconciousness
	kliwir art	Frontal view of upper part of human figure with surgical protective hood and medical gas mask with hose, on rest
80	Hablamos Juntos	Frontal view of head, medical gas mask with hose attached
	Fassati	Frontal view of human figure, four horizontal lines covering upper part of head, one passing legs
50	Hablamos Juntos	Frontal view of upper part of human figure in outline, dotted line near syringe at shoulder
25	Hablamos Juntos	Clipped frontal view of upper part of human figure, diagonal lines covering body near syringe at shoulder
30	Hablamos Juntos	Frontal view of upper part of human figure, pattern of dots centered at syringe at shoulder
	wisevectors	Medical gas mask with hose and rounded trapezoid

Note: Some of the examples shown above were mirrored horizontally to contrast differences.

Discussion

The collection of pictograms shown above is rather limited, as this medical specialization is not a prime focus of most hospital wayshowing solutions. But still there are a few concepts regarding how to indicate Anesthesia. On the one hand one can find several images with a medical gas mask as characteristic element, usually attached to a face, but also alone. Adding elements indicating sedation/unconciousness as shown in the icon labeled Pike Picture possibly could enhance comprehensibility. On the other hand we found several pictograms trying to illustrate local anesthesia on basis of a syringe in contact with a human figure, and a part of the body under local anesthesia indicated by lines, dotted lines or a pattern of dots. We did not include variants displaying a syringe alone, as this single image content would elicit too many other interpretations.

We found only two studies that present research covering pictogram variants for this referent:

Hablamos Juntos in partnership with SEGD (the Society for Environmental Graphic Design) developed several test designs to signify Anesthesia, of which five pictograms were subjected to a test on basis of the Comprehensibility Estimation procedure (Fontaine et al., 2010). With median scores ranging from 80 down to 25 only one of the pictograms examined were judged as rather comprehensible. The numbers next to the pictograms in the table above are the median estimation scores reported for the corresponding pictograms in this study. According to the authors 'Users had a difficult time with symbols that showed depictions of a medical process. For example, they did not respond well to ... the depiction of anesthesia progressively penetrating into the body' (page 21). Regarding the results of this study a new variant was designed, which is labeled as SEGD/HJ above.

In a follow up project also this symbol, marked with A) in the table above, was examined by Zender & Cassedy (2014) using the ISO/ANSI Open-ended Comprehension Test to find out if this variant is understood just as well in a different culture, and if not, why it does not work. Test results from the United States and Tanzania reveal that this pictogram was better understood in the USA, where about 50 % of the responses were classified as correct. In the Tanzanian sample it became evident that these variants do not work everywhere: they were not understood among typical local patients with 5 % correct, and only slightly better among respondents with advanced medical literacy with 10 % correct. The failure was considered to be due to insufficient knowledge, as this medical specialization was considered highly technical (page 90).

Recommendations

Due to the fact that data from research is insufficient, we recommend testing using the Comprehensibility Estimation procedure for eliminating poor variants and identifying the best of the set available, followed by a Comprehension Test. These studies should deliver useful data for recommending the best pictogram. Detailed information about the most frequent responses given in each of the response categories of the Comprehension Test should be provided to correctly judge comprehensibility and improve designs. Also information concerning knowledge about this medical specialization should be collected at the end of the test, as studies suggest that many terms used for healthcare facilities are often not understood well by people visiting hospitals or related institutions.

Tests of pictograms of referent Anesthesia

Fontaine, L., Fernández, O., & Middleton, D. (2010): Universal Symbols in Health Care - Symbol Design Research Report. SEGD.

Zender, M., & Cassedy, A.E. (2014): (Mis)understanding: Icon Comprehension in Different Cultural Contexts. Visible Language, 48, 69.