ABSTRACT
A wide variety of mostly pictorial symbols for similar or identical referents have been designed and are in use on hospital signs throughout the world (e.g. Dreyfuss,
1975). Whether patients and visitors correctly understand the meaning of all these symbols has rarely been examined. The objective of the study reported here has been to determine the usability (understandability) of information symbols intended for patients and visitors of hospitals, especially in relation to cultural, gender and age differences.
