Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Pills Splitting in Malaysia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Tablet-splitting is a common practice in all sectors of healthcare. However, there are certain types of tablets that are not suitable to be split. Reasons to practice tablet splitting are improving dose flexibility, saving cost, and easing swallowing action of the tablets. The study aims to examine and describe the knowledge and practices of tablet splitting, identify the techniques applied by the patients for tablet splitting, and analyze the reasons behind this practice. Methods: This study was conducted as a cross-sectional study using convenient sampling. In total, 390 questionnaires were filled by the respondents throughout the areas in Penang Island within two and half months. Results: About 50 % of the respondents have taken a tablet after splitting it and they were aware of the consequences of inaccurate tablet splitting. Concerning attitudes and practices of the general public towards tablet splitting, most of the respondents (40.26%) split their tablets by hand, followed by knife (28.72%), tablet-splitter (22.05%), teeth (10.77%), and dissolve the whole tablet in the water and drink it (3.08%). Conclusion: Tablet splitting has a major role in dosage adjustment and should be limited to the specific clinical situation. If tablet splitting is still necessary, patient counseling is recommended, and pharmacies should deliver the appropriate tools or pharmacist split tablets for the patients and repackages them.