Medication non-adherence costs more than 30 billion in a year in the USA. Lack of medication related knowledge is one of the main reasons for patients to be non adherent to medication. Currently, medication related information is mostly communicated to patients using Patient Package Inserts (PPI) and printed label provided by the pharmacy. however, such information is either ignored or thrown away by patients. MedScrab is a word-based game that is designed to educate patients about medication information through gamification. Currently, the MedScrab focuses on drugs related to cardiovascular and mental health diseases. The medication information used in the game is extracted from Lexicomp, Drug information from USFDA website and Patient Package Insert (PPI) by the manufacturer. Two practicing clinical pharmacist who has clinical experiences validated the medication information used in the MedScrab. It will expand to include other categories of drugs soon.
The game starts with a login page where the user needs to registered first with a valid email address and date of birth. After the registration, the user can login using the email address and the year of birth. MedScrab presents medication information through five levels of word scrabble games. Even game level includes a unique type of medication information, including indication (the uses of medication), warning (when and why the medication can’t be taken), adverse effect (what are the undesired harmful consequences of the use of the medication)), interaction (what are the reactions between the medication and a food or beverage or other medications), and counseling (the basic advices such as what to avoid, when and how to take the medication). Every level of a medication game includes a black box warning of the medication, the most vital information of a medication a user should know. After playing each of the five levels of scrabble words, there is a short question to check the user’s knowledge with respect to the specific type of the medication information. Once all five levels are finished, the user can check the overall knowledge about the specific medication that is played. The user can gain 10 points for correctly playing a scrabble word or answering a question.