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Problems Caused by Child-Resistant Packaging for the Elderly

Description

In 1970 the Poison Prevention Packaging Act specified that drugs should be dispensed in containers that were difficult for children to access. However, the same features that make the packaging difficult to open by children also make it difficult for access by the elderly. Although the regulations were amended in 1998 to make the packaging more elder friendly, some geriatric patients will continue to have problems with these protective closures.


 

Patients likely to have difficulty with safety closures:

(1) moderate to severe arthritis

(2) diminished muscular strength

(3) problems with fine muscle coordination

(4) difficulty reading the instructions

(5) confusion or difficulty understanding the instructions

(6) easily frustrated

 

The techniques that an older person may use to bypass the safeguards include:

(1) leaving the cap off the container

(2) pouring the medications out of the container into a bowl or saucer

(3) asking that the prescription be filled with a non-child-resistant cap

 

However, if a small child is present, then these techniques place the child at risk.

 


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