Why can some tablets be divided?
Tablets are solid, single-dose dosage forms intended for ingestion and containing one or more active ingredients. They are manufactured by compressing a precisely weighed powder mixture or granules in a tablet press under high pressure.
This problem particularly affects children and the elderly, who either require lower quantities of active ingredient by nature or have limited degradation of the active ingredient due to reduced liver and/or kidney function. In such cases, it can be advantageous if prescribed tablets can be divided.
The same applies if, for example, a patient requires the active ingredient dose of one-and-a-half tablets.
Another reason is that many patients have problems swallowing large tablets. After division (if this is possible for the preparation in question), such tablets are simply easier to take (alternatively, some tablets may be crushed or dissolved in water beforehand for administration in stomach tubes).
Not all tablets can be divided, and not all tablets that can be divided are designed to ensure an even distribution of active ingredient to the partial pieces. Ask your doctor or pharmacist about the divisibility of the respective preparation if a division is intended! This should be taken into account especially in the case of generic drugs or when switching from one drug to another.
Special features
It should be noted, however, that some tablets have a so-called decorative breaking groove or notch. Such grooves and notches are only present for decorative reasons and are not intended to improve the divisibility of the tablet! In some cases, dividing is even expressly prohibited.
If you are unsure whether a tablet can really be divided, ask your doctor or pharmacist.
What problems can occur when halving?
On the other hand, when a tablet intended for this purpose is divided correctly, two pieces of different size may result. This may then appear purely visually as if one half contains more active ingredient than the other. However, the manufacturer guarantees a consistent dosage even in such cases.
Dividing tablets is less suitable for people with handicaps, such as impaired vision or reduced dexterity. Special tablet dividers are available for these people. If it is not possible to divide the tablets properly even with these auxiliary devices, there is still the option of magisterial production of individually dosed capsules – i.e., capsules that are specially made for the patient in the correct dosage at the pharmacy.
Not all tablets may be divided. There may be several reasons for this.
Sensitive or unpleasant active ingredients
In some film-coated tablets, the thin coating is intended to prevent the active ingredients contained from being inactivated by light, oxygen, or moisture. When shared, this protective coating is destroyed, which can impair the effectiveness of the tablets. You should therefore not crush such film-coated tablets.
CMR active ingredients
Tablets containing CMR active ingredients, i.e. those that are carcinogenic (C = carcinogenic), mutagenic (M = mutagenic) or harmful to fertility (R = toxic to reproduction) are also unsuitable for sharing. These include, for example, cytostatics (cell-killing agents, e.g. against cancer), virustatics (virus-killing agents) and retinoids (e.g. agents against severe acne).
Enteric-coated tablets
In enteric-coated film-coated tablets, the coating prevents the active ingredients from being released in the stomach – either so that they are not destroyed by the aggressive stomach acid (e.g., proton pump inhibitors) or so that they in turn attack the stomach lining.
Retard tablets
In some film-coated tablets, a sustained-release coating means that the active ingredients are not released in a single burst, but only gradually. However, this controlled release is disrupted if you split the tablets.
Capsules and sugar-coated tablets
In capsules, the active ingredients (and excipients) are enclosed in a gelatin shell. In hard capsules the contents are solid, in soft capsules more or less liquid. Neither is suitable for sharing. The same applies to coated tablets, in which the active ingredient core is coated with a layer of sugar.
Which tablets can be divided?
| Drugs | Divisible? | Note |
| Tablets – rapidly disintegrating | yes | |
| Film coated tablets – water soluble | yes | Note the properties of the active ingredients (e.g. photosensitivity, bitter taste) |
| Film-coated tablets – enteric-coated | no | |
| Film coated tablets – sustained release | no | |
| Retard tablets (matrix) | partly | Do not crush; observe information in package insert |
| Retard tablets (multiple units) | yes | Do not crush |
| Enteric coated tablets (Multiple Units) | yes | Do not crush |
| no | ||
| Sugar lozenges | no | |
| according to R. Quinzler, W.E. Haefeli |
Information on whether and how a tablet can be divided in an individual case can be found in the package insert!
How can tablets be divided properly?
There are various methods of dividing tablets as accurately as possible into halves of the same size without the use of aids.
Curved tablets
Flat tablets
When the tablet is large enough to grasp with the thumb and forefingers, hold it between the thumbs and forefingers of both hands with the break notch facing up. The nails of the thumbs should be opposite the notch on the underside of the tablet.
Now press the tablet halves down briefly and forcefully with the index fingers over the nail edge of the thumbs until they break apart.
Further techniques
Tablets that are flat on one side and have a large-angle break notch on the other can be placed on a hard surface with the notch facing down. Then briefly press the flat top of the tablet with a finger to cut it in half along the notch.
What auxiliary devices are there for dividing tablets?
Your doctor or pharmacist can also show you how to properly handle a tablet divider so that the tablets are broken up without much breakage dust. Some pharmacies even offer their customers to cut their tablets in half with a divider.
No alternative to the tablet divider are kitchen knives, scissors or similar. They are completely unsuitable for dividing tablets – in most cases, you will only get unevenly sized pieces and, in the worst case, you will injure yourself in the process!
