Development of oral dosage form for elderly patients: use of agar as base of rapidly disintegrating oral tablets.

Rapidly disintegrating tablets as an oral dosage form for elderly patients with impaired swallowing were investigated using agar powders (AG) or treated agar powders (TAG). When the compression pressure was changed from 0.4 to 2.0 ton/cm2, the disintegration time of AG tablets increased from about 60 to about 160s, and the hardness significantly increased from 3 to 13 kgw. The disintegration time and hardness of the TAG tablets were scarcely affected by the compression pressure: the disintegration time was 5--6s, and the hardness was 2--3 kgw. The rapid disintegration of the TAG tablets seemed due to the rapid water penetration into the tablet resulting from the large pore size and large overall pore volume. It was found that rapidly disintegrating oral tablets with proper hardness can be prepared using TAG.