Objective To investigate the role of clinical pharmacists in managing iron deficiency anaemia patients. Methods A prospective parallel randomised controlled trial conducted in an outpatient clinic enrolled adult iron deficiency anaemia patients. Patients were randomised into either an intervention or a control group. Patients in the intervention group were followed closely by a clinical pharmacist who offered pharmaceutical care services and worked closely with physicians to manage iron deficiency anaemia. Patients in the control group received the usual medical care.
Objectives
To investigate the practice of tablet splitting and the frequency of using different techniques for tablet splitting at outpatient pharmacies in Jordan.
Methods
A structured questionnaire was used to interview adult patients who were prescribed at least one medication in a half‐tablet dosage at two main outpatient pharmacies in the north of Jordan.
Key findings
A total of 491 patients were interviewed. The most commonly split medication was aspirin 325 mg (38.1%) followed by warfarin 5 mg (3.3%). The most common reason for tablet splitting was physician's order (41.2%). Additionally, (24.0%) of respondents sometimes skipped their doses due to tablet splitting difficulties. The majority of participants (n = 312, 63.5%) used their hands to split tablets. More than a tenth of the participants discarded parts of their tablets when splitting did not result in equal parts from their perspective.
Conclusion
Tablet splitting practice resulted in drug waste and medication non‐adherence. Pharmacists are encouraged to educate other healthcare providers and patients about the practice of tablet splitting and when it is acceptable and when it is not.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.