An ergonomics evaluation of a reclosable pharmaceutical container with special reference to the elderly

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Abstract
The British Standard on reclosable child-resistant medicine containers states that adults shoud be able to open such containers but fails to consider the special problems of the elderly. The ability of 100 elderly people to open a particular child-resistant container (CRC) was compared with their ability to open conventional drug containers. Information on drug taking and on contact with children under 5 yr was also collected and indicated that 62% of the subjects were taking prescribed tablets and of these, 70% came into contact with children under 5 yr. Without a demonstration, over 20% of attempts to open the CRC resulted in failure and even after a demonstration, 16.5% of attempts were unsuccessful. The elderly come into contact with young children sufficiently often to justify their tablets being dispensed in CRC. The special problems of the elderly need consideration in the British Standard and in the design of child-resistant containers.

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