抄録
The air extruded jelly formulation (AEJF), which is filled with clean air, is a newly developed jelly formulation. As a portion of the jelly is discharged smoothly by pushing air, AEJF is easily ingested by elderly patients. In this survey, we investigated the intention and ability of taking AEJF (without an active ingredient) in elderly patients when giving dosing instruction or not and when administering different portion sizes using a questionnaire. The subjects were elderly patients who had chronic diseases and routinely took some oral medicines from ages 50 to 79. In order to evaluate the receptivity of AEJF, the subjects (n = 108) took AEJF under various conditions, eg, they took 2 g-AEJF after being instructed not to chew, took it after being instructed not to chew but eventually being allowed to take AEJF with chewing at their own judgment, or took 1 g-AEJF and 3 g-AEJF in the presence of the investigators.The ratio of expressing the intention to take it with restraint from chewing was 76.9％ for 2 g-AEJF, 81.5% for 1 g-AEJF and 42.6% for 3 g-AEJF. The major reason for the negative impression with the 3 g-AEJF was that it was too large and too long. The investigators confirmed whether the applicants were able to swallow the jellies without chewing. The result showed that 98.1%, 88.0%, and 79.2% of the applicants swallowed 1 g-, 2 g-, and 3 g-AEJF without chewing, respectively. These results suggest that AEJF containing 1 to 2 g of jelly is the optimum size of AEJF to be administered to elderly patients with the restriction of chewing.
