Patients´Experiences of Splitting Tablets

B E Anders Ekedahl

doi:doi:10.11648/j.cmr.20130204.14

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Patients´Experiences of Splitting Tablets

B E Anders Ekedahl

Published in Clinical Medicine Research (Volume 2, Issue 4)

Received: 16 May 2013 Accepted: Published: 30 June 2013

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Abstract

Objectives: To examine what patients do when they have a prescription with a dosage where tablets must be split. Methods: Interviews were performed at 12 pharmacies across Sweden with pharmacy customers who had prescriptions with a dosage meaning that the tablets have to be divided to give the prescribed individual dose. Key findings: Of the 436 pharmacy customers interviewed, 255 (58.5%) reported they divided the tablets without tools and 162 (37.2%) used tools, the most common was a knife. Only few used a tablet splitter. Almost every third patient (31.4%) stated they had problems to divide the tablets. Conclusions: Patients’ difficulties in splitting tablets are common, but seem to be overlooked. Pharmacists should be permitted to adjust dispensing to a strength corresponding to the prescribed dosage level, price policies with flat prices need to be revised to eliminate economic incentives to prescribe dosages with split tablets and a computerised decision support should be developed signalling when there is a suitable strength for the prescribed individual dose.

Published in	Clinical Medicine Research (Volume 2, Issue 4)
DOI	10.11648/j.cmr.20130204.14
Page(s)	58-62
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Tablet Splitting; Patient Experiences; Drug Related Problem; Sweden, Community Pharmacies

References

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[15]	A. Hellberg, L. Nyangen and A. Ekedahl. "Knife, scissors or razor blades...patients' experiences and problems with tablets that have to be divided [Kniv, sax eller rakblad…patienters upplevelser och problem med tabletter som måste delas]," Lakartidningen vol. 107, pp. 530-531, February 2010.
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APA Style

B E Anders Ekedahl. (2013). Patients´Experiences of Splitting Tablets. Clinical Medicine Research, 2(4), 58-62. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cmr.20130204.14

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ACS Style

B E Anders Ekedahl. Patients´Experiences of Splitting Tablets. Clin. Med. Res. 2013, 2(4), 58-62. doi: 10.11648/j.cmr.20130204.14

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B E Anders Ekedahl. Patients´Experiences of Splitting Tablets. Clin Med Res. 2013;2(4):58-62. doi: 10.11648/j.cmr.20130204.14

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@article{10.11648/j.cmr.20130204.14,
  author = {B E Anders Ekedahl},
  title = {Patients´Experiences of Splitting Tablets},
  journal = {Clinical Medicine Research},
  volume = {2},
  number = {4},
  pages = {58-62},
  doi = {10.11648/j.cmr.20130204.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cmr.20130204.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.cmr.20130204.14},
  abstract = {Objectives: To examine what patients do when they have a prescription with a dosage where tablets must be split. Methods: Interviews were performed at 12 pharmacies across Sweden with pharmacy customers who had prescriptions with a dosage meaning that the tablets have to be divided to give the prescribed individual dose. Key findings: Of the 436 pharmacy customers interviewed, 255 (58.5%) reported they divided the tablets without tools and 162 (37.2%) used tools, the most common was a knife. Only few used a tablet splitter. Almost every third patient (31.4%) stated they had problems to divide the tablets. Conclusions: Patients’ difficulties in splitting tablets are common, but seem to be overlooked. Pharmacists should be permitted to adjust dispensing to a strength corresponding to the prescribed dosage level, price policies with flat prices need to be revised to eliminate economic incentives to prescribe dosages with split tablets and a computerised decision support should be developed signalling when there is a suitable strength for the prescribed individual dose.},
 year = {2013}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Patients´Experiences of Splitting Tablets
AU  - B E Anders Ekedahl
Y1  - 2013/06/30
PY  - 2013
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cmr.20130204.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.cmr.20130204.14
T2  - Clinical Medicine Research
JF  - Clinical Medicine Research
JO  - Clinical Medicine Research
SP  - 58
EP  - 62
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2326-9057
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cmr.20130204.14
AB  - Objectives: To examine what patients do when they have a prescription with a dosage where tablets must be split. Methods: Interviews were performed at 12 pharmacies across Sweden with pharmacy customers who had prescriptions with a dosage meaning that the tablets have to be divided to give the prescribed individual dose. Key findings: Of the 436 pharmacy customers interviewed, 255 (58.5%) reported they divided the tablets without tools and 162 (37.2%) used tools, the most common was a knife. Only few used a tablet splitter. Almost every third patient (31.4%) stated they had problems to divide the tablets. Conclusions: Patients’ difficulties in splitting tablets are common, but seem to be overlooked. Pharmacists should be permitted to adjust dispensing to a strength corresponding to the prescribed dosage level, price policies with flat prices need to be revised to eliminate economic incentives to prescribe dosages with split tablets and a computerised decision support should be developed signalling when there is a suitable strength for the prescribed individual dose.
VL  - 2
IS  - 4
ER  -

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Author Information

B E Anders Ekedahl

Linn?us University, Kalmar, Sweden; Medical Products Agency, Uppsala, Sweden

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Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

B E Anders Ekedahl. (2013). Patients´Experiences of Splitting Tablets. Clinical Medicine Research, 2(4), 58-62. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cmr.20130204.14

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ACS Style

B E Anders Ekedahl. Patients´Experiences of Splitting Tablets. Clin. Med. Res. 2013, 2(4), 58-62. doi: 10.11648/j.cmr.20130204.14

Copy | Download

AMA Style

B E Anders Ekedahl. Patients´Experiences of Splitting Tablets. Clin Med Res. 2013;2(4):58-62. doi: 10.11648/j.cmr.20130204.14

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.cmr.20130204.14,
  author = {B E Anders Ekedahl},
  title = {Patients´Experiences of Splitting Tablets},
  journal = {Clinical Medicine Research},
  volume = {2},
  number = {4},
  pages = {58-62},
  doi = {10.11648/j.cmr.20130204.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cmr.20130204.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.cmr.20130204.14},
  abstract = {Objectives: To examine what patients do when they have a prescription with a dosage where tablets must be split. Methods: Interviews were performed at 12 pharmacies across Sweden with pharmacy customers who had prescriptions with a dosage meaning that the tablets have to be divided to give the prescribed individual dose. Key findings: Of the 436 pharmacy customers interviewed, 255 (58.5%) reported they divided the tablets without tools and 162 (37.2%) used tools, the most common was a knife. Only few used a tablet splitter. Almost every third patient (31.4%) stated they had problems to divide the tablets. Conclusions: Patients’ difficulties in splitting tablets are common, but seem to be overlooked. Pharmacists should be permitted to adjust dispensing to a strength corresponding to the prescribed dosage level, price policies with flat prices need to be revised to eliminate economic incentives to prescribe dosages with split tablets and a computerised decision support should be developed signalling when there is a suitable strength for the prescribed individual dose.},
 year = {2013}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Patients´Experiences of Splitting Tablets
AU  - B E Anders Ekedahl
Y1  - 2013/06/30
PY  - 2013
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cmr.20130204.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.cmr.20130204.14
T2  - Clinical Medicine Research
JF  - Clinical Medicine Research
JO  - Clinical Medicine Research
SP  - 58
EP  - 62
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2326-9057
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cmr.20130204.14
AB  - Objectives: To examine what patients do when they have a prescription with a dosage where tablets must be split. Methods: Interviews were performed at 12 pharmacies across Sweden with pharmacy customers who had prescriptions with a dosage meaning that the tablets have to be divided to give the prescribed individual dose. Key findings: Of the 436 pharmacy customers interviewed, 255 (58.5%) reported they divided the tablets without tools and 162 (37.2%) used tools, the most common was a knife. Only few used a tablet splitter. Almost every third patient (31.4%) stated they had problems to divide the tablets. Conclusions: Patients’ difficulties in splitting tablets are common, but seem to be overlooked. Pharmacists should be permitted to adjust dispensing to a strength corresponding to the prescribed dosage level, price policies with flat prices need to be revised to eliminate economic incentives to prescribe dosages with split tablets and a computerised decision support should be developed signalling when there is a suitable strength for the prescribed individual dose.
VL  - 2
IS  - 4
ER  -

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