Theophyllines three times daily - when are the doses actually taken? - Pharmacokinetic ideals versus clinical practice.
We asked patients "At what times of the day do you usually take your medicine?" In contrast to compliance interviews dealing with missed doses, this question was previously shown to give valid information. Here we present results from 126 patients on theophyllines three times daily, the most common dosage schedule for these drugs in Sweden in 1978. Only 2% of the patients stated the ideal 8-h intervals between all doses, while 72% had confined all their doses within 12 h. The first and second intervals ranged from 0 to 11 h with a mean of 5.5 and 6.1 h respectively. The third interval varied from 7 to 18 h with a mean of 12.4 h. Patients might benefit more from their therapy by even-spacing of their intake of theophylline.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance; D013806:Theophylline / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D013997:Time Factors
D013806:Theophylline