Screening for, and overcoming, ‘pill aversion’ in community pharmacy using a novel educational tool: Hard pill to swallow?™

IF 3.4 3区医学 Q1 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

Research in Social & Administrative Pharmacy Pub Date : 2026-02-01 Epub Date: 2025-11-26 DOI:10.1016/j.sapharm.2025.11.007

Alice. P. McCloskey , Johanne Nesbit , A.P. Rathbone , Nicola Vasey , Philippa. G. McCabe , Susan Flynn , Simran Bal , Katie Mulraney , Sarah Hamilton , Hashim Ali , Kyle Holebrooke-Steele , Yincent Tse , Emma. J. Lim

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

Solid oral dosage forms (pills) are commonly dispensed but frequently patients struggle to take these (pill aversion). This is rarely identified or addressed in clinical practice. The KidzMed programme teaches children to swallow pills, but to date it has not been used to support adults with pill aversion.

Objectives

•
Assess in community pharmacy the acceptability of screening for pill aversion
•
Test an educational leaflet tailored for adults to support with pill swallowing

Methods

Participants were recruited via pre-defined inclusion and exclusion criteria using convenience sampling at three Liverpool-based community pharmacies over a one-month period. A screening questionnaire was completed and adults >18 years identified with pill aversion (score of 6+ on the PILL-5 screening tool) supplied with an adapted educational leaflet from the KidzMed programme. Successful pill swallowing using the leaflet was assessed via phone-call two weeks later. Institutional ethics reference (PBS/2023-23/01).

Results

Overall, 246 participants were screened, 9 % (n = 22) were identified as having pill aversion. There was an association with younger age and female gender. Follow-up showed that the leaflet was well received, participants found it useful, had changed their pill swallowing technique because of it, and shared this knowledge with others.

Conclusions

Pill aversion is an underexplored issue. The positive impact of the adapted leaflet in adults reflects the success of KidzMed for children. Further work is needed to confirm the association of age and gender with pill aversion, and determine translatability of the adapted leaflet to a wider audience and other healthcare settings.

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筛选，并克服，“药丸厌恶”在社区药房使用一种新的教育工具：硬药丸吞？

背景：固体口服剂型（药片）通常被分配，但患者经常难以服用这些（药丸厌恶）。这在临床实践中很少被发现或解决。KidzMed项目教孩子们吞下药片，但迄今为止，它还没有被用来支持有药物厌恶症的成年人。目的：方法：参与者通过预先定义的纳入和排除标准，使用方便抽样在利物浦的三个社区药房招募，为期一个月。研究人员完成了一份筛查问卷，并向年龄在0岁至18岁之间的成年人（在pill -5筛查工具上得分为6+）提供了一份改编自KidzMed项目的教育传单。两周后，通过电话评估使用传单成功吞咽药丸的情况。机构伦理参考（PBS/2023-23/01）。结果：总的来说，246名参与者被筛选，9% （n = 22）被确定为有药丸厌恶。这与年龄较小和女性性别有关。随访结果显示，该传单反响良好，参与者发现它很有用，因此改变了他们的服药技巧，并与他人分享这些知识。结论：药物厌恶是一个未被充分探讨的问题。改编后的传单在成人中的积极影响反映了KidzMed在儿童中的成功。需要进一步的工作来确认年龄和性别与避孕药厌恶的关系，并确定改编后的传单对更广泛的受众和其他医疗保健机构的可翻译性。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Research in Social & Administrative Pharmacy PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH-

CiteScore

7.20

自引率

10.30%

发文量

225

审稿时长

47 days

期刊介绍： Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy (RSAP) is a quarterly publication featuring original scientific reports and comprehensive review articles in the social and administrative pharmaceutical sciences. Topics of interest include outcomes evaluation of products, programs, or services; pharmacoepidemiology; medication adherence; direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription medications; disease state management; health systems reform; drug marketing; medication distribution systems such as e-prescribing; web-based pharmaceutical/medical services; drug commerce and re-importation; and health professions workforce issues.