Dosage form suitability in vulnerable populations: A focus on paracetamol acceptability from infants to centenarians

IntroductionMedicine acceptability is a multi-faceted concept driven by both product and user characteristics. Although a key factor for treatment effectiveness, especially in vulnerable populations, knowledge of those medicine features that best promote individual user acceptability remains fragmented. Focusing on paracetamol, this study has explored the appropriateness of pharmaceutical products in different dosage forms to achieve adequate patient acceptability from infants to centenarians.MethodsThis observational, multicentre, prospective study was carried out in 10 hospitals, 8 nursing homes and over 150 community dispensaries. Observers reported several behaviours/events evaluating acceptability for 1016 different pharmaceutical product uses in paediatrics (ResultsAmong all the evaluations supporting the acceptability reference frameworks, there were 502 reports on paracetamol products intake. Herein we focused on the 5 products with ≥30 evaluations. Although oral suspension and powder for oral solution were positively-accepted in the paediatric group, the powder had a higher rate of negative patient reaction (pConclusionsBy better integrating patient characteristics when choosing dosage forms, clinicians and caregivers may improve treatment acceptability and adherence. Moreover, hospitals and healthcare institutions could optimise purchasing to best suit their local population, disseminating information to help staff align specific dosage forms to targeted patients.引言 药物可接受性是一个多维度的概念，由产品特性与使用者特征共同驱动。尽管其是影响治疗效果的关键因素，尤其在脆弱人群中，但目前学界对于能够最有效提升个体使用者药物可接受性的药物特征相关认知仍较为零散。本研究以对乙酰氨基酚（paracetamol）为研究对象，探讨了不同剂型的药物产品在覆盖从婴幼儿到百岁老人的全年龄段人群中实现良好患者可接受性的适宜性。 方法 本研究为观察性、多中心前瞻性研究，共在10家医院、8家养老院以及150余家社区药房开展。研究人员记录了1016例儿科药物使用场景中用于评估可接受性的多项行为与事件。 结果 在所有支撑可接受性参考框架的评估中，共有502份关于对乙酰氨基酚制剂服用情况的报告。本研究聚焦于评估次数≥30次的5种制剂。尽管口服混悬剂与口服溶液用粉剂在儿科人群中获得了正向接受度，但该粉剂的患者不良反应发生率更高（p 结论 临床医师与照护者在选择药物剂型时若能更好地结合患者特征，可提升治疗的可接受性与依从性。此外，医院与医疗机构可优化采购策略，以更好地适配本地人群的需求，并通过传播相关信息帮助医护人员将特定剂型匹配至目标患者群体。