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Characteristics of “Hard-to-Use” Press-Through-Package Sheets: An Analysis of Information Collected by Marketing Specialists of a Japanese Medical Wholesaler

BACKGROUND: Press-through-package (PTP) sheets are common forms of packaging for medicines in Japan. However, patients and/or pharmacists have reported difficulty in extracting tablets or capsules from some PTP sheets. OBJECTIVE: We used postmarketing surveillance data to identify the characteristic...

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Autores principales: Kabeya, Kenji, Satoh, Hiroki, Hori, Satoko, Miura, Yasumasa, Sawada, Yasufumi
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Dove 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7394600/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32801657
http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/PPA.S254040
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author Kabeya, Kenji
Satoh, Hiroki
Hori, Satoko
Miura, Yasumasa
Sawada, Yasufumi
author_facet Kabeya, Kenji
Satoh, Hiroki
Hori, Satoko
Miura, Yasumasa
Sawada, Yasufumi
author_sort Kabeya, Kenji
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Press-through-package (PTP) sheets are common forms of packaging for medicines in Japan. However, patients and/or pharmacists have reported difficulty in extracting tablets or capsules from some PTP sheets. OBJECTIVE: We used postmarketing surveillance data to identify the characteristics of PTP sheets that patients and pharmacists feel are “hard to use”. METHODS: Marketing specialists of Toho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. canvassed patients and medical workers during November 2014–April 2016. Among 1,129 anonymous reports of products being “hard to use”, we identified 39 products with 5 or more reports (Problem group). We compared the sizes of the drugs and PTP pockets, the size ratio, the material used for the front of PTPs, the shape of the pockets, the thickness of the pocket wall, and the force needed to release the drug from the PTP (press-out force: POF) in this Problem group with those in a Control group of 97 problem-free products. RESULTS: Logistic regression analyses revealed that a bigger pocket, a smaller drug size and a smaller drug-pocket size ratio increase the risk of being “hard to use”. Regarding the material, aluminum, PCTFE and PE increase the risk, while PP and PVC decrease the risk. Other factors had no significant influence. CONCLUSION: Pockets in PTP sheets should be designed so as to minimize the gap between the drug and the pocket, and PP or PVC should be used as the front material instead of aluminum, PCTFE or PE. Our results suggest that marketing specialists can play effective roles in postmarketing surveillance.
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spelling pubmed-73946002020-08-13 Characteristics of “Hard-to-Use” Press-Through-Package Sheets: An Analysis of Information Collected by Marketing Specialists of a Japanese Medical Wholesaler Kabeya, Kenji Satoh, Hiroki Hori, Satoko Miura, Yasumasa Sawada, Yasufumi Patient Prefer Adherence Original Research BACKGROUND: Press-through-package (PTP) sheets are common forms of packaging for medicines in Japan. However, patients and/or pharmacists have reported difficulty in extracting tablets or capsules from some PTP sheets. OBJECTIVE: We used postmarketing surveillance data to identify the characteristics of PTP sheets that patients and pharmacists feel are “hard to use”. METHODS: Marketing specialists of Toho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. canvassed patients and medical workers during November 2014–April 2016. Among 1,129 anonymous reports of products being “hard to use”, we identified 39 products with 5 or more reports (Problem group). We compared the sizes of the drugs and PTP pockets, the size ratio, the material used for the front of PTPs, the shape of the pockets, the thickness of the pocket wall, and the force needed to release the drug from the PTP (press-out force: POF) in this Problem group with those in a Control group of 97 problem-free products. RESULTS: Logistic regression analyses revealed that a bigger pocket, a smaller drug size and a smaller drug-pocket size ratio increase the risk of being “hard to use”. Regarding the material, aluminum, PCTFE and PE increase the risk, while PP and PVC decrease the risk. Other factors had no significant influence. CONCLUSION: Pockets in PTP sheets should be designed so as to minimize the gap between the drug and the pocket, and PP or PVC should be used as the front material instead of aluminum, PCTFE or PE. Our results suggest that marketing specialists can play effective roles in postmarketing surveillance. Dove 2020-07-27 /pmc/articles/PMC7394600/ /pubmed/32801657 http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/PPA.S254040 Text en © 2020 Kabeya et al. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/). By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms (https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php).
spellingShingle Original Research
Kabeya, Kenji
Satoh, Hiroki
Hori, Satoko
Miura, Yasumasa
Sawada, Yasufumi
Characteristics of “Hard-to-Use” Press-Through-Package Sheets: An Analysis of Information Collected by Marketing Specialists of a Japanese Medical Wholesaler
title Characteristics of “Hard-to-Use” Press-Through-Package Sheets: An Analysis of Information Collected by Marketing Specialists of a Japanese Medical Wholesaler
title_full Characteristics of “Hard-to-Use” Press-Through-Package Sheets: An Analysis of Information Collected by Marketing Specialists of a Japanese Medical Wholesaler
title_fullStr Characteristics of “Hard-to-Use” Press-Through-Package Sheets: An Analysis of Information Collected by Marketing Specialists of a Japanese Medical Wholesaler
title_full_unstemmed Characteristics of “Hard-to-Use” Press-Through-Package Sheets: An Analysis of Information Collected by Marketing Specialists of a Japanese Medical Wholesaler
title_short Characteristics of “Hard-to-Use” Press-Through-Package Sheets: An Analysis of Information Collected by Marketing Specialists of a Japanese Medical Wholesaler
title_sort characteristics of “hard-to-use” press-through-package sheets: an analysis of information collected by marketing specialists of a japanese medical wholesaler
topic Original Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7394600/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32801657
http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/PPA.S254040
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