Table I.
Interview participant characteristics and experiences with pills.*
| Variable | Result |
|---|---|
| Approached | 100 |
| Completed structured interviews | 99 |
| Age (y) | 41 |
| Range (y) | 23–77 |
| Female gender (%) | 66 |
| Taking pills on a daily basis (%) | 81 |
| No. of daily pills | 4.1 |
| Range | 1–19 |
| Taking 5 or more (%) | 27 |
| Taking 10 or more (%) | 10 |
| Taking 15 or more (%) | 5 |
| Prescribed by provider vs self (%) | 56 vs 44 |
| Sometimes experienced difficulties with pills (%) | 54 |
| Frequent ongoing pill sticking/globus sensation (%) | 13 |
| Solid food dysphagia (%) | 8 |
| Pills as bad as food (%) | 5 |
| Pills worse than food (%) | 2 |
| Clinical complications from pill swallowing† (%) | 4 |
| Measures to ensure effective swallowing (%) | |
| Plenty of water | 55 |
| Series of power swallows | 33 |
| Cut, break, or crush large tablets | 30 |
| Swallow in viscous medium (eg, apple sauce or chewed bread) | 7 |
| Stop hard-to-swallow medication | 6 |
| Position pill to back of tongue, turning head | 2 |
| Open capsule, swallow contents | 1 |
| Request easier preparation | 1 |
⁎
Participants were visitors approached in clinic waiting rooms. Sixty-six were family or friends of patients undergoing an endoscopic procedure. Thirty-four were passing through the outpatient pharmacy.
†
Clinical complications included 1 report of pill esophagitis, 1 report of pill impaction leading to persistent fright of all oral medications, and 3 reports of stopped prescribed medications.