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A new published report provides evidence that household
spoons are not the best way to measure doses of liquid medications due
to their wide variation in size, as well as differences among peoples
methods of measurement and human error.
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The volume a teaspoon can hold varies a lot, from
2 ml to 10 ml depending on the size of the spoon.
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There is also great variation in how people measure
using the same spoon.
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Researchers interviewed a sample of 105 women
and 25 men in the waiting areas of 3 clinics in the St. Paul, Minnesota,
region.
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73% of those studied used teaspoons to measure
out liquid doses.
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The most common error was mistakenly measuring
1 teaspoon instead of 1 tablespoon.
The researchers also found that of all the available
options, including an oral dosing syringe, a cylindrical spoon, an oral
dropper, and a baby dispenser, the syringe was the most effective, with
92% of those studied achieving accurate measurements when using the device.
Women were significantly better at administering medicines
than men.
Researchers found that dosing instructions are more
likely to be properly followed if they are expressed in terms of the number
of doses per day, rather than an hourly interval (e.g., "3-4 times
daily" is better than "every 6 hours").
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When dosing was expressed in terms of hourly intervals,
only 4 out of 10 correctly interpreted the dosage.
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When dosage was expressed in terms of the number
of doses per day, the accuracy increased to 9 out of 10.
The researchers conclude that oral syringes should
be the administration method of choice and, whenever possible, dosage
instructions should indicate the number of required dosages per day rather
than the hour intervals between dosages, especially for children.
The Journal of Family Practice
August 2000;49:741-744
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