Medicines That are Appropriate for Elderly Persons:-Evaluation of The Size of Oral Disintegrating Tablets That can be Ingested-

The availability of tablets and compliance are related to their size.Large tablets are easy to grasp,but are difficult to ingest.Therefore,tablets measuring 7 to 8 mm in diameter are commonly manufactured.It is difficult for elderly and disabled persons to grasp tablets of this size.Assuming that oral disintegrating (OD) tablets can be ingested even when they are large,we conducted an organoleptic test with model OD tablets in 84 persons aged over 65 years.Of these,76% reported that OD tablets measuring 15 mm in diameter were difficult to ingest.However,all subjects could ingest them.In addition,79% could ingest them easily.The results suggest that OD tablets measuring 15 mm or less in diameter are safe even in elderly patients in whom swallowing hypofunction is frequent.It was also shown that tablets measuring 13 mm in diameter were easier to grasp than those measuring 8 mm.If OD tablets are increasingly prescribed despite their size,it may reduce difficulty in grasping,and facilitate compliance in patients with mild dysphagia,as well as the simple suspension method (safe and useful tube administration method),improving patients’QOL.