ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE@#The aim of this study was to analyze the status of split tablet prescription in South Korea.@*METHODS@#We conducted this analysis using 2016 National Patient Sample data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service. We computed split tablet prescription rates by sex and age and determined which medicine and medical specialties had the highest split tablet prescribing rates.@*RESULTS@#The proportion of prescriptions that included split tablets was 15.6% (n=6,687,35). The proportion of prescriptions that included split tablets was higher for females (56.7%) than for males (43.3%), while that of prescriptions including split tablets versus total prescriptions for each sex was higher for males (16.4%) than for females (14.9%) (p<0.001). In the age group under 19 years, the proportion of prescriptions including split tablets (53.7%) was more than half of the total. The highest tablet splitting rate was found to be 89.9% for formoterol fumarate (40 µg), and pseudoephedrine hydrochloride (60 mg) had the highest number of prescriptions. Pediatrics (65.6%) was the medical field with the highest rate of split tablet prescription.@*CONCLUSION@#Split tablets were most prescribed to pediatric patients. To minimize the use of split tablets, it is necessary to develop lower dose tablets and establish a policy that promotes prescription of these lower-dose tablets.