Identification of different shapes, colors and sizes of standard oral dosage forms in diabetes type 2 patients —A pilot study

Publication date: 30 January 2017 Source:International Journal of Pharmaceutics, Volume 517, Issues 1–2 Author(s): Sven Stegemann, Regina Riedl, Harald Sourij The clear identification of drug products by the patients is essential for a safe and effective medication management. In order to understand the impact of shape, size and color on medication identification a study was performed in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D). Ten model drugs differentiated by shape, size and color were evaluated using a mixed method of medication schedule preparation by the participants followed by a semi-structured interview. Detection times were fastest for the large round tablet shape and the bi-chromatic forms. Larger size was easier to identify than the smaller sizes except for the bi-chromatic forms. The shape was the major source of errors, followed by the size and the color dimension. The results from this study suggests that color as a single dimension are perceived more effectively by subjects with T2D compared to shape and size, which requires a more demanding processing of three dimension and is dependent on the perspective. Graphical abstract
Source: International Journal of Pharmaceutics - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: research