ArticlePloS one2013
Association between physician specialty and risk of prescribing inappropriate pill splitting.
Article in PloS one, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Factors Influencing Prescribing Decisions of Physicians: A Review.Ethiopian journal of health sciences · 2018Pooled it
- Impact of a warning CPOE system on the inappropriate pill splitting of prescribed medications in outpatients.PloS one · 2014Trial
- Concerns regarding tablet splitting: a systematic review.BJGP open · 2022Article
- Tablet Splitting of Antiepileptic Drugs in Pediatric Epilepsy: Potential Effect on Plasma Drug Concentrations.Paediatric drugs · 2016Article
- Tablet splitting of narrow therapeutic index drugs: a nationwide survey in Taiwan.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2015Article
- Comparative Effect of Divided Doses of Adult Solid and Liquid Oral Formulations of Antiepileptic Drugs in the Management of Pediatric Epilepsy.Journal of pharmacology & pharmacotherapeuticsArticle
- Dosage variability of veterinary drug products, containing furosemide, linked to tablet splitting.Open veterinary journalArticle
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Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPrescription errors that occur due to the process of pill splitting are a common medication problem; however, available prescription information involving inappropriate pill splitting and its associated factors is lacking.
methodsWe retrospectively evaluated a cohort of ambulatory prescriptions involving extended-release or enteric-coated formulations in a Taiwan medical center during a 5-month period in 2010. For this study, those pill splitting prescriptions involving special oral formulations were defined as inappropriate prescriptions. Information obtained included patient demographics, prescriber specialty and prescription details, which were assessed to identify factors associated with inappropriate pill splitting.
resultsThere were 1,252 inappropriate prescriptions identified in this cohort study, representing a prescription frequency for inappropriate pill splitting of 1.0% among 124,300 prescriptions with special oral formulations. Among 35 drugs with special oral formulations in our study, 20 different drugs (57.1%, 20/35) had ever been prescribed to split. Anti-diabetic agents, cardiovascular agents and central nervous system agents were the most common drug classes involved in inappropriate splitting. The rate of inappropriate pill splitting was higher in older (over 65 years of age) patients (1.1%, 832/75,387). Eighty-seven percent (1089/1252) of inappropriate prescriptions were prescribed by internists. The rate of inappropriate pill splitting was highest from endocrinologists (3.4%, 429/12,477), nephrologists (1.3%, 81/6,028) and cardiologists (1.3%, 297/23,531). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the strongest factor associated with individual specific drug of inappropriate splitting was particular physician specialties.
conclusionThis study provides important insights into the inappropriate prescription of special oral formulation related to pill splitting, and helps to aggregate information that can assist medical professionals in creating processes for reducing inappropriate pill splitting in the future.
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