Pediatric and geriatric patients experience swallowing difficulties for traditional oral dosage forms, such as tablets. Further, microbial contamination, chemical stability, unpleasant taste and swallowing large volumes of fluids have led to low therapeutic efficacy and patient noncompliance. The emergence of oral thin films has resulted in dramatic improvements in compliance and drug therapy outcomes in pediatric and geriatric patients. Oral thin films do not require water for administration, are readily hydrated upon contact with saliva, adhere to the mucosa and disintegrate ideally under 1 min. This article provides an overview of oral thin films, modern trends in their formulation and characterization, available commercial products, information to fill knowledge gaps and future potential and economic prospects of oral thin film technology, with emphasis on their use in the pediatric and geriatric patient groups.
Keywords: drug delivery; geriatric; hot-melt extrusion; oral dosage forms; oral thin films; patient compliance; pediatric; solvent casting; taste masking.