Appropriateness of oral medication delivery devices available in community pharmacies.

OBJECTIVES: To identify the proportion of prescribed liquid medications that can be properly administered with devices available at local community pharmacies. METHODS: Prescriptions written over a 2-month time frame in a pediatric clinic were analyzed and compared with measuring devices available at community pharmacies within a 5-mile radius. Devices from the pharmacies were compared with the prescriptions to determine if they were acceptable and/or optimal to measure the dose as prescribed. Data collected for each prescription included items such as presence of markings on the device at the prescribed dose, if the units of measurement matched the device, if acceptable to measure the prescribed volume with the available device, optimal syringe volume, and if the pharmacy had an optimal device for the prescribed volume. RESULTS: Among the 11 different devices collected from the pharmacies, 5 different types were found. Over the 2 months of prescription data analyzed, 557 prescriptions were written, with 158 (28%) being liquids requiring a medication delivery device for administration. When comparing the 5 unique devices to 158 prescriptions independently, it was found that 9%, 30%, 53%, and 92%, respectively, for the 1-mL, 3-mL, 5-mL, and 10-mL devices were acceptable to measure the volume prescribed. The 5-mL syringe was optimal in only 21% of prescriptions analyzed, and the 10-mL syringe and spoon were found to be the most optimal device for the prescriptions analyzed. Of the 5 pharmacies reviewed, all prescriptions could be optimally measured with the use of devices that they had available 49% of the time (range 22% to 78%). CONCLUSION: Oral medication delivery devices are imperative for safe and effective oral liquid medication use. Understanding optimal and acceptable devices would allow pharmacists to tailor patient-specific education and would allow direction when stocking oral delivery devices in the community pharmacy.

Evaluation of oral medication delivery devices provided by community pharmacies.

Oral liquids remain common medication dosage forms used for patients who have difficulty swallowing. However, liquids require a delivery device and thus have been linked to medication administration errors. This study identified medication delivery devices available at pharmacies. Delivery devices were obtained from area pharmacies and analyzed for units of measurement, abbreviations, and largest/smallest measurable volume. A total of 58 devices were collected from 22 pharmacies. All devices were marked with mL, and 79% were additionally marked in teaspoons. The 5-mL syringe was the only device dispensed at 14% of locations. Other devices included the dosing spoon, dropper, and cup. The largest measurable volume was 30 mL, whereas the smallest was 0.01 mL, with significant variability among devices. A more consistent approach in prescribing units of measurement is needed. Prescribing in milliliters is an optimal choice because of the accessibility of measuring devices containing this measurement.