Impact of advanced age on the gastric emptying of water under fasted and fed state conditions.

Although older people are the main users of oral medications, few studies are reported on the influence of advanced age on gastric emptying rate of non-caloric liquids. This study aimed at evaluating the gastric emptying of 240 ml water in healthy older and young adults in fasted and fed state conditions using the established method of salivary caffeine kinetics. The gastric emptying of water was evaluated in 12 healthy older volunteers (mean age: 73 ± 6 years) and 12 healthy younger volunteers (mean age: 25 ± 2 years) with the ingestion of a rapid disintegrating tablet containing 20 mg of 13C3-caffeine. The gastric emptying of water was assessed indirectly by calculating the AUC ratios of salivary caffeine concentrations in specific time segments. Comparison of the AUC ratios showed no statistically significant difference between young and older volunteers in both fasted and fed state conditions (p > 0.05). Advanced age itself seems to have no relevant effect on gastric emptying of water in either fasted or fed state conditions and the phenomenon of Magenstrasse appears to follow a similar pattern in healthy older adults as in healthy younger adults.

Investigation of real-life drug intake behaviour in older adults and geriatric patients in Northern Germany - A biopharmaceutical perspective.

Dosing conditions (type and amount of accompanying fluid, the type of food, the time of administration, and dosage form modifications such as crushing tablets) are critical and affect the performance of oral dosage forms in the gastrointestinal tract and thus bioavailability. Because older adults are the primary users of medications and are more susceptible to adverse effects, it is important to understand how they take their medications in order to reduce risks and increase benefits of the pharmacotherapy. The aim of the study was to investigate the real-life drug intake behaviour in geriatric patients and older adults and discuss their influence on drug absorption after oral administration. The data from two settings home vs. hospital and genders women vs. men were presented. A questionnaire study was performed among people aged at least 65 years from two settings (hospital vs. home), recruited mostly from community pharmacies and a regional hospital in Mecklenburg - Western Pomerania. The obtained data demonstrates that older adults and geriatric patients take their medications in the same way regardless of the setting and gender. There were no significant differences. Interviewed participants were mostly adherent to the doctor's recommendations and mostly took their medications in the same way every day. Medications are most commonly taken with a small (100 mL) or large (200 mL) glass of noncarbonated water, after food (during or after breakfast 64 % of intakes in the morning and during or after dinner 81 % of intakes in the evening). Meal usually consisted of bread, either with jam or honey (breakfast), or ham and cheese (dinner). All reported dosage form modifications were made to tablets. In almost all cases it was splitting the tablet, which was performed due to doctor's indication.

Parameters to consider for successful medication use in older adults - An AGePOP review.

Older adults are the main users of medicine and due to common multimorbidity they are often confronted with a complex medication management. This review article provides a brief overview on aspects of medication management, i.e., maintaining a stock of the required medicine, understanding and following the instructions for use, coping with the primary and secondary packaging, as well as the preparation prior to use. However, the main focus is on the drug intake itself and the review provides an overview of the current understanding of real life dosing conditions in older adults and geriatric patients. It elaborates the acceptability of dosage forms, in particular solid oral dosage forms as they represent the majority of dosage forms taken by this patient population. An improved understanding of the needs of older adults and geriatric patients, their acceptability of various dosage forms, and the circumstances under which they manage their medications will allow for the design of more patient-centric drug products.

3D Printing of Mini Tablets for Pediatric Use.

In the treatment of pediatric diseases, suitable dosages and dosage forms are often not available for an adequate therapy. The use of innovative additive manufacturing techniques offers the possibility of producing pediatric dosage forms. In this study, the production of mini tablets using fused deposition modeling (FDM)-based 3D printing was investigated. Two pediatric drugs, caffeine and propranolol hydrochloride, were successfully processed into filaments using hyprolose and hypromellose as polymers. Subsequently, mini tablets with diameters between 1.5 and 4.0 mm were printed and characterized using optical and thermal analysis methods. By varying the number of mini tablets applied and by varying the diameter, we were able to achieve different release behaviors. This work highlights the potential value of FDM 3D printing for the on-demand production of patient individualized, small-scale batches of pediatric dosage forms.