Survey Study to Identify the Maximum Acceptable Numbers of 2 mm and 3 mm Mini-Tablets for Short-, Middle-, and Long-Term Treatments in Acutely and Chronically Sick Children of Different Age Groups Below 18 Years
<b>Background/Aims</b>: This preference study aimed to identify the maximum number of mini-tablets of two different sizes that children and adolescents would be willing to take, and parents, nurses, and pediatricians would be willing to administer to children and adolescents. <b>Me...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Pharmaceutics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4923/17/7/834 |
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| Summary: | <b>Background/Aims</b>: This preference study aimed to identify the maximum number of mini-tablets of two different sizes that children and adolescents would be willing to take, and parents, nurses, and pediatricians would be willing to administer to children and adolescents. <b>Methods</b>: A total of 336 participants (24 per cohort) were stratified into 14 cohorts: Acutely and chronically sick children/adolescents aged 6–<12 years (y) and 12–<18 y, parents of acutely and chronically sick children/adolescents aged 0–<2 y, 2–<6 y, 6–<12 y, and 12–<18 y, nurses, and pediatricians. After participants were shown seven different numbers of 2 and 3 mm mini-tablets, they were asked to assess the maximum number acceptable for short-, middle-, and long-term treatment using cohort-specific questionnaires. <b>Results</b>: Within all groups and treatment durations, the specified maximum accepted number of 2 mm mini-tablets was higher than the number of 3 mm mini-tablets. The maximum number of mini-tablets acceptable to the participants increased with increasing age of the children and ranged from 40–500 (30–400) for the 2 mm (3 mm) mini-tablets. With increasing duration of treatment, a lower maximum number of mini-tablets was considered tolerable. Chronically sick children were willing to take higher numbers of mini-tablets than acutely sick children. The maximum accepted numbers of mini-tablets specified by pediatric patients, parents, and healthcare professionals were similar for each age group; however, pediatricians consistently specified slightly higher numbers of mini-tablets than parents and nurses. <b>Conclusions</b>: The study demonstrated that even a high number of mini-tablets would be well-accepted by children during middle- or long-term treatment. |
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| ISSN: | 1999-4923 |