Articles Related to "Difficulty Swallowing
Pills & Medications"
- 1. 40% of American Adults Report Experiencing Difficulty Swallowing Pills
- 2. Helping The Medicine Go Down
- 3. Pill Swallowing Troubles - Not So Simple After All
- 4. A Difficult Pill to Swallow?
- 5. How to Swallow a Pill.
- 6. Helping Children Swallow Medicines
- 7. Pill Swallowing Made Easy - NEW!
- 8. Medication - A Difficult Decision - Medication Phobia
1. 40% of American Adults Experience Difficulty
Swallowing Pills
Following are excerpts from a January, 2004 article presented online
by Yahoo!, Inc. via PRNewswire:
National Survey Shows Many Failed to Take Medication as Directed Because
of Difficulty Swallowing Pills
"MILWAUKEE, Jan. 15 (2004) / PRNewswire/
Pill Swallowing Difficulties
Results of a first-ever nationwide survey of adults on pill-swallowing
difficulties, conducted by Harris Interactive, reveal that a large percentage
(40%) of American adults have experienced difficulty swallowing pills,
even though most have had no problems swallowing food or liquid. Of
those who experience difficulty swallowing their medications, 14 percent
have delayed taking doses of their medication, 8 percent have skipped
a dose and 4 percent have discontinued using their medication.
Another surprising finding is that fewer than one quarter of adults
who have difficulty swallowing their medication have ever discussed
the problem with a health professional. For a scant 14 percent of these
patients surveyed, their health professional brought up the topic of
pill-swallowing difficulty, and only ten percent initiated the conversation
themselves.
The online survey of 679 adults (513 ages 18-64, 166 age 65 and older),
through an educational grant funded by Schwarz Pharma, Inc., probed
the scope, rationale, coping strategies and consequences of the problem:
Some key findings are:
Nearly one in five people who have taken oral medications have hesitated
prior to taking pills because they thought they might have trouble swallowing
them. Most people who have hesitated attribute their hesitation to the
size of the pill (84%), followed by its shape (29%).
One in ten people have chosen pills, other than a vitamin, based on
the anticipation of how difficult they might be to swallow. Women are
more likely to do so (14%) than men (4%).
To faciltate Swallowing
To facilitate swallowing, more than half (55%) of those who have had
difficulty swallowing pills drink lots of liquids, 48% drink water in
big gulps, 43% tilt their heads back, and 31% place the pill on the
back of their tongue. Some of the other coping strategies are trying
more than once to swallow the pill (30%), splitting the pill in two
(17%), and taking a deep breath before taking the pill to minimize the
gag reflex (13%).
About twice as many women (51%) as men (27%) experienced pill-swallowing
problems, and interestingly, more people between ages 18 and 64 reported
having these problems (44%) than those age 65 and older (26%).
Most people that had problems taking pills described the sensations
as having a pill stuck in their throat (80%), having a bad after taste
in their mouth (48%), or gagging (32%).
Alternative Forms of Medication
People are trying alternative forms of medication, such as chewable
or rapidly-dissolving tablets. For the majority of people who are unsure
or somewhat likely to try orally dissolving technology, the factors
with the greatest importance underlying their decision are the ability
to easily transport their pills (80%), ease of administration (78%),
and no need for preparation (76%), followed by no need for water when
swallowing pills (65%) and better taste of the pill (61%).