Abstract
It has been reported that the patients with low manual dexterity,such as elderly patients,those suffering from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or cerebrovascular disease with or without subsequent paralytic complications,are likely to have difficulty in opening medication packages.This is particularly so for pouch-form packages for powders which are designed to be torn open,an action that requires both hands.
In order to make an objective evaluation of the difficulty in opening medication packages,we first measured the actual strength required for the opening of a package called the strip pack (SP) using a special instrument.Next,we conducted a subjective sensory assessment of package opening for patients with cerebrovascular disease or RA,and studied the features that packages need to have to be opened by the majority of patients without serious difficulty.
We found that there was a correlation between the strength measurements made by the instrument and the results of the subjective sensory assessment.As our conclusion,packages could only be opened with relative ease by patients with varying degrees of dexterity impairment when the force required for opening was less than 11.4 N,and that a notch (small cut) in the package significantly aided package opening.
