As many parents will attest, it is struggle to have kids swallow their pills and capsules. But a new study suggests there are better ways to manage this without having an episode.
Pediatrician Dr. Kathleen Bradford, who heads a team of researchers at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, has gone over the different pill-swallowing methods in several researches. She acknowledges that the problem is not uncommon, but notes that, "addressing this problem and researching more effective ways to implement these interventions can help improve medication administration and compliance in children," in a story published on Health Day.
In her team's study, Bradford said that in-take of medicine is usually difficult between the children ages 1 to 10 years old. The problem usually leads to the children missing out on their medication. The reason for this is varied and may include the taste of the medication, its size, and the actual fear and discomfort the child experiences.
The doctor and her team recommends practicing the method of swallowing best. "My partner taught his son using Tic Tacs," shared Dr. Jaime Friedman of the San Diego Children's Primary Care Medical Group.
The team also looked into five different studies from 1986 to 2013 for previous techniques. Some of these are tried and tested, such as:
- Placing the pill under the tongue to swallow with water.
- Using a special cup with a spout that releases the pill along with the water.
- Putting the head at different angles to ease swallowing.
- Using a throat spray to mask the taste of medicine.
"I think a combined method of behavioral interventions and teaching head positions seems most plausible," added Friedman. Doing a "demonstration or modeling" should also help with conditioning the child's behavior.
Bradford, however, advises against crushing the pill because this can immediately release the doses in one drink, as stated on AP. Crushing will also worsen the taste of the medication. Additionally, she said that parents must make pill-taking fun rather than punitive.
In the same AP report, Bradford is said to encourage her young patients at the hospital to "think of tongues as water slides, and swallowing a pill gives it a ride into the stomach."
There were some limitations to the research, however, as the studies only pertained to a few number of children, but the success rate is high. Their findings were published in the April 20 online issue of the Pediatrics journal, as stated on Health Day.
