These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Weight uniformity of split tablets required by a Veterans Affairs policy.
    Author: Polli JE, Kim S, Martin BR.
    Journal: J Manag Care Pharm; 2003; 9(5):401-7. PubMed ID: 14613437.
    Abstract:
    OBJECTIVE: To split several tablet products relevant to the Veterans Affairs (VA) Maryland Healthcare System and assess whether the resulting half tablets provide equal doses. METHODS: From a VA list of products that are required to be split, 7 products were evaluated, along with 5 other commonly split tablet products. A trained pharmacy student split tablets using a tablet splitter provided by the VA. Half tablets were assessed for weight uniformity. RESULTS: Of the 12 products subjected to splitting, 8 products (atorvastatin, citalopram, furosemide, glipizide, metoprolol, paroxetine, sertraline, and warfarin) yielded half tablets that passed the weight-uniformity test. The 4 failing products were lisinopril, lovastatin, rofecoxib, and simvastatin. Unusual tablet shape and high tablet hardness predisposed products to failing the weight-uniformity test. The 4 failing products resulted in half tablets that were generally within 20% of their target weight range, suggesting that splitting these specific products would not result in adverse therapeutic effects due to dose variation created by tablet-splitting. CONCLUSION: Split-tablet results were relatively favorable and generally support a VA practice to split specific tablets. Public quality standards for half tablets, including their content uniformity, are needed to better delineate the policies for acceptable tablet splitting.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]