Dose-related adverse effects of medications are a major problem in modern medical practice. The "correct" dose, based on drug company guidelines in package inserts, may not be correct for many patients. Tablet splitting or dividing has been an accepted practice for many years as a means of obtaining the prescribed dose of medication. As model tablets for this investigation, two batches of lisin...

OBJECTIVE Tablet splitting is frequently performed to facilitate correct dosing, but the practice and implications in low-income settings have rarely been discussed. METHODS We selected eight drugs, with narrow therapeutic indices or critical dosages, frequently divided in the Lao PDR (Laos). These were split, by common techniques used in Laos, by four nurses and four laypersons. The mean per...

Background Tablet splitting is a widely prevalent practice resulting from the need to alter doses into two or more parts and optimise medicine in individual patients. If tablet split unequally problems may arise. Aim The aim of study was summarise literature measuring effect on dose accuracy. Method MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL Cochrane were searched studies published prior January 2020 investigatin...

The objective of this work was to compare several profiles of dissolution data for metoprolol controlled release tablet formulations in order to identify possible changes in dissolution profiles of whole and scored tablets. Adequate design of score lines (on one or both sides) as well as the technology of preparation of tablet mixtures ensure forming a score line of adequate thickness, shape, s...

BACKGROUND Prescription of fragmented tablets is useful for individualisation of dose but includes several drawbacks. Although without score lines, the antipsychotic drug quetiapine was in 2011 the most often prescribed 1/2 tablet in discharge prescriptions at the University Hospital in Basel (USB, 671 beds). We aimed at analysing the prescription patterns of split tablets in general and of que...

Background Tablet splitting can provide dose flexibility and cost savings; however, pharmaceutical representatives typically discourage the practice. Aim To identify summarise all published concerns related to tablet present experimental evidence that investigates those concerns. Design & setting Systematic review qualitative synthesis of tablet-splitting evidence...

Objectives Prescribing of treatments with dosages involving split tablets is common. Many patients report they have difficulties in dividing the tablets and in following the prescribed treatment. The objective of this study was to examine to what extent dosages involving split tablets are prescribed in Sweden. Methods The dosage text strings were analysed on prescriptions dispensed during one m...