THE ACCURACY AND QUALITY OF HOUSEHOLD SPOONS AND ENCLOSED DOSING DEVICES USED IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF ORAL LIQUID MEDICATIONS IN GHANA

摘要

Administering. the. right. doses. of. oral. liquid. medications. is. crucial. to. achieving. therapeutic. goals.. These. doses. are.measured. with. household. spoons. and. dosing. devices. enclosed. in. product. packages.. We. investigated. the. types. of.household.spoons.currently.available,.the.types.and.extent.of.inclusion. of. dosing. devices. in. oral. liquid. product.packages. and. assessed. the. accuracy,. quality,. reliability. and. acceptability.of.the.household.spoons.and.enclosed.devices. in. dosing. oral. liquid. medications.. Close. to. half. (46. %). of. orthodox. and. almost. all. (97. %). herbal. oral. liquid.remedies. in. the. Ghanaian. market. did. not. have. enclosed. dosing. devices.and.will.require.the.use.of.other.devices.mostly.household.spoons.to.deliver.the.required.doses.in.their.administration..Many.people.(95.%).used.household.spoons. in. dosing. oral. liquid. medications. and. some. (39. %). actually.preferred.them.to.enclosed.dosing.devices..The.household. spoons. were. mostly.teaspoons.and.dessertspoons;.tablespoons.were.very.rare..Aside. other.defects,.all.the.categories.of.household.spoons.had.maximum.volumes.significantly. different. from;. 5. ml. (teaspoonful).(4.3. ±.1.7),. 10.ml.(dessertspoonful).(8.25.±.2.5).and.15.ml.(tablespoonful).(13.5.±.1.2),.respectively.(P<0.05);.hence.were.inaccurate.and. can. lead. to. oral. liquid.medication. dosing. errors..The. medicine. cup. was. the. most. common.(80. %). dosing. device.and. measured. relatively. large. volumes. (5‐20. ml). which. were. not. significantly. different. (P<0.05). from. the. expected.calibrations..The.enclosed.medicinal.spoons.(12.%).had.defects. similar.to.their.household.counterparts.and.measured.volumes. (5‐10. ml). which. were. different. from. expected. (P<0.05).. The. enclosed. oral. droppers. and. syringes. (8. %).measured.volumes.(≤5.ml).more.accurately..The.oral.syringe.was.the. most. accurate. and. convenient. dosing. device..The.results. strongly. support.the. assertions. that. household. spoons.are.inaccurate.and.their.use.for.dosing.oral.liquid.medications.is.anachronistic.and.should.be.discouraged