A Survey on the Number of Tablets and Capsules Per Package from the Perspective of Pharmacists: Examining the Ideal Number Considering the Ease of Handling and the Risk of Dispensing Errors

Tablet and capsule packaging includes PTP (press-through pack) and SP (strip package) packaging, and the number of sheets packaged varies widely. Although no evidence or guidelines exist regarding the number of units per package, pharmaceutical companies set their own packaging standards. The wide variety of packaging configurations used by pharmacists for dispensing may increase the risk of dispensing errors. To examine this issue, we conducted a survey of pharmacists working in insurance pharmacies and hospitals and asked them about their preferred number of units per package. Most respondents supported 10-pill packaging, citing reasons such as ease of management and prevention of dispensing errors. For most dosage regimens, the highest number of respondents preferred the 10-pill package, except in cases of once-weekly or once-monthly dosages. Therefore, we propose that the number of tablets and capsules per PTP and SP package should be standardized to 10 tablets.