Question

Using prednisone 5 mg tabs, dispense qs for the following rx: "prednisone 20mg bid x2, 10mg bid x 2, 5mg tid x3, 5mg bid x 2, 2.5mg bid x 2". How many tabs should be dispensed?

1) 27
2) 39
3) 43
4) 62

Answer 1

To calculate the total number of prednisone tablets needed, add the total mg required for each dosage instruction and then divide by the tablet strength. The calculation reveals that 39 tablets of prednisone 5 mg are needed to fulfill the prescription.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine the number of tablets to be dispensed for the given prescription of prednisone, we need to calculate the total quantity of each dosage strength and then convert that total to the number of 5 mg tablets required. The prescription specifies the dosage as follows: 20mg bid x2, 10mg bid x 2, 5mg tid x 3, 5mg bid x 2, 2.5mg bid x 2.

• For the 20mg dose: 20mg x 2 times per day x 2 days = 80mg total
• For the 10mg dose: 10mg x 2 times per day x 2 days = 40mg total
• For the 5mg TID (three times a day) dose: 5mg x 3 times per day x 3 days = 45mg total
• For the 5mg BID (twice a day) dose: 5mg x 2 times per day x 2 days = 20mg total
• For the 2.5mg dose: 2.5mg x 2 times per day x 2 days = 10mg total

Adding these together gives a total of 80mg + 40mg + 45mg + 20mg + 10mg = 195mg needed for the entire course. Since the prescription is for 5mg tablets, the total number of tablets is 195mg divided by 5mg per tablet, which equals 39 tablets.