Is an oral disintegrating tablets a formulation that is easy to ingest for patients experiencing difficulty with eating and swallowing?

Abstract

Oral disintegrating tablets (hereafter, ODT) can be ingested without water. We conducted a videoscopic examination to determine whether they are also useful as internal agents for patients experiencing difficulty with eating and swallowing. Normal tablets and dummy preparations of ODT were orally administered to six patients with neurological diseases who were either diagnosed with or aware of difficulty in eating and swallowing, and observations were conducted using a videoscope. Two subjects were able to ingest both the normal tablet and the dummy preparation without any problem; two subjects were able to ingest the normal tablet without any problem but the dummy preparation remained in their pharynx; and two subjects had both the normal tablet and the dummy preparation remained in the pharynx. There was no feeling of residue in the four cases in which the dummy preparation remained in the pharynx. ODT is not necessarily easy to ingest for patients with neurological diseases who have difficulty eating and swallowing, and it was believed that repeated swallowing or alternate swallowing of a thick liquid is required for ingestion.