Effectiveness of Pediatric Pill Swallowing Interventions: A Systematic Review

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Pediatric patients commonly have difficulty swallowing pills. Targeted interventions have shown to improve medication administration and treatment compliance. The objective was to evaluate studies performed on pill swallowing interventions in the pediatric population since 1987.

Comparing swallowing of capsule to endoscopic placement of capsule endoscopy in children

“…In children, the ability and willingness to swallow endoscopic capsules can be influenced by the child's age and cognitive understanding, personality, acceptance by parents, and skill of the investigator in turning the ingestion into an interactive game 3. However, even in adolescents, up to one‐third of patients describe difficulties swallowing standard size tablets 4. In our cohort, about half required endoscopic placement.…”

Register‐based study showed that the age when children were prescribed antibiotic tablets and capsules instead of liquids increased from 2004 to 2016

“…in 2017 , conventional monolithic solids should not exceed 7 mm for children 6–12 years. This is in contrast with studies of children as young as two years who can learn to swallow conventional monolithic solids, although such studies have predominantly included children with chronic diseases . However, children prescribed short‐term antibiotic treatments may not have this ability, due to a lack of experience with swallowing solid formulations and thus the opportunity to learn how to swallow them.…”

“…In clinical practice, though, solid monolithic formulations are seldom available in an appropriate dose and size to treat common paediatric diseases . Swallowing conventionally sized solid monolithic formulations has been reported to be difficult for children, although studies indicate that this ability can be improved with guidance .…”

The Impact of Cancer and its Treatment on the Growth and Development of the Pediatric Patient

“…Behavioral Impact-As highlighted by the case below, many children in this age group struggle with taking oral medication during treatment (Patel, Jacobsen, Jhaveri, & Bradford, 2015). It is not unusual for children of this age to have little experience swallowing a pill, and unfortunately many treatments require pills or liquid medication for symptom management.…”

“…It is not unusual for children of this age to have little experience swallowing a pill, and unfortunately many treatments require pills or liquid medication for symptom management. Targeted interventions can improve pill-swallowing behavior and increase treatment adherence in children (Patel et al, 2015), especially in school-age children (Garvie, Lensing, & Rai, 2007).…”