Medicines: why learning to swallow pills is good for families and the planet

Learning to swallow medicine in pill form is good for patients, parents and, surprisingly, the environment. A scientific article recently published in the British Medical Journal An English team carries out an analysis of the benefits and costs of medicines in pill formatcompared with the same drugs in liquid format.

Almost all parents make dosage errors

THE benefits for patients and families they derive from the better yield, the greater ease of adhering to therapies, dosing the medicine and avoiding some trips. In a retrospective single-center US study of 150 pediatric discharge orders, it was calculated that switching to pills could have save 200 thousand dollars per year.

In fact, pill packs can be divided to deliver a specific number of doses, while liquid formulations they must be dispensed in whole bottles, which often means wasting excess doses (for example in the case of short-term prescriptions, such as antibiotics). For long-term prescriptions, pills may be dispensed in larger quantities than liquids, reducing the number of trips of the patient.

At home, parents themselves make mistakes when dosing liquids, mistakes that are more common than you think: an American study on 2,110 parents found that more than 80% made at least one dosing error with liquid formulations and 21% of parents made at least one dosing error greater than double the expected dose.

Finally, adherence: some liquid medications can be unpleasant and contain sugar, colorings and preservatives to improve the taste, but additives increase the risk of dental caries. A bitter taste in medicine it was the second most frequently cited reason for non-adherence to short-term antibiotic therapy in a study of 414 patients in Saudi Arabia.

The benefit for the environment

Surprisingly too the environment would thank for the use of medicinal pills over bottles: the exact impact on the carbon footprint has yet to be calculated, but there is some evidence.

A medicine life cycle assessment conducted in India found that the carbon footprint of producing paracetamol pills 15 times lower to that of an equivalent dose of liquid.

Pills typically come in smaller, lighter packages than liquids, They take up less space in trucks and create less packaging waste. Liquids also require syringes or measuring spoons, helping to increase the plastic waste.

Finally, the pills have a longer shelf life and can be stored out of the refrigeratortherefore they have a lower energy requirement during their use and are less likely to be wasted.

It is taught from age 4: here's how

The data that is not reflected upon enough, we read in the English study, is swallowing pills a life skill that can be learned early. Children with normal swallowing can be successfully taught to swallow starting from the age of 4. By the age of 10, children should be prescribed pills as standard, the authors write and point out that in some countries strategies have been developed to facilitate this learning.

One of these in the UK KidzMed, a six-step technique illustrated with videos, cartoons and a quiz, to teach professionals, parents, children and young people how to swallow pills. In summary he recommends:

1. Find a comfortable place without distractions.
2. Let the child choose their own drink.
3. Start with the smallest pill or treat.
4. Place the sweet pill or trial medicine in the center of the tongue.
5. Offer three sips of liquid to drink.
6. Try another pill or sweet following the same steps (always the next one, not the biggest one).

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