PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Schiele, Julia T.
AU  - Schneider, Hendrik
AU  - Quinzler, Renate
AU  - Reich, Gabriele
AU  - Haefeli, Walter E.
TI  - Two Techniques to Make Swallowing Pills Easier
AID  - 10.1370/afm.1693
DP  - 2014 Nov 01
TA  - The Annals of Family Medicine
PG  - 550--552
VI  - 12
IP  - 6
4099  - http://www.annfammed.org/content/12/6/550.short
4100  - http://www.annfammed.org/content/12/6/550.full
SO  - Ann Fam Med2014 Nov 01; 12
AB  - To evaluate whether 2 techniques (the pop-bottle method for tablets and the lean-forward technique for capsules) ease swallowing of tablets and capsules, we conducted a cross-sectional study including 151 adults of the general German population. Participants swallowed 16 differently shaped placebos, rated their ease of swallowing on an 8-point Likert scale, and swallowed the 2 dosage forms that they had rated most difficult again using the appropriate technique. The pop-bottle method substantially improved swallowing of tablets in 59.7% (169/283) and the lean-forward technique for capsules in 88.6% (31/35). Both techniques were remarkably effective in participants with and without reported difficulties swallowing pills and should be recommended regularly.