Survey Study to Identify the Maximum Acceptable Numbers of 2 mm and 3 mm Mini-Tablets for Short-, Middle-, and Long-Term Treatments in Acutely and Chronically Sick Children of Different Age Groups Below 18 Years.

: This preference study aimed to identify the maximum number of mini-tablets of two different sizes that children and adolescents would be willing to take, and parents, nurses, and pediatricians would be willing to administer to children and adolescents. : A total of 336 participants (24 per cohort) were stratified into 14 cohorts: Acutely and chronically sick children/adolescents aged 6-<12 years (y) and 12-<18 y, parents of acutely and chronically sick children/adolescents aged 0-<2 y, 2-<6 y, 6-<12 y, and 12-<18 y, nurses, and pediatricians. After participants were shown seven different numbers of 2 and 3 mm mini-tablets, they were asked to assess the maximum number acceptable for short-, middle-, and long-term treatment using cohort-specific questionnaires. : Within all groups and treatment durations, the specified maximum accepted number of 2 mm mini-tablets was higher than the number of 3 mm mini-tablets. The maximum number of mini-tablets acceptable to the participants increased with increasing age of the children and ranged from 40-500 (30-400) for the 2 mm (3 mm) mini-tablets. With increasing duration of treatment, a lower maximum number of mini-tablets was considered tolerable. Chronically sick children were willing to take higher numbers of mini-tablets than acutely sick children. The maximum accepted numbers of mini-tablets specified by pediatric patients, parents, and healthcare professionals were similar for each age group; however, pediatricians consistently specified slightly higher numbers of mini-tablets than parents and nurses. : The study demonstrated that even a high number of mini-tablets would be well-accepted by children during middle- or long-term treatment.