A dosage form (DF) is the physical form of a dose of a chemical compound used as a drug or medication intended for administration or consumption. Common dosage forms include pill, tablet, or capsule, drink or syrup, aerosol or inhaler, liquid injection, pure powder or solid crystal (e.g., via oral ingestion or freebase smoking), and natural or herbal form such as plant or food of sorts, among many others. Notably, the route of administration (ROA) for drug delivery is dependent on the dosage form of the substance in question.
Various dosage forms may exist for a single particular drug, since different medical conditions can warrant different routes of administration. For example, persistent nausea and emesis or vomiting may make it difficult to use an oral dosage form, and in such a case, it may be necessary to utilize an alternate route such as inhalational, buccal, sublingual, nasal, suppository, or parenteral instead.
Additionally, a specific dosage form may be a requirement for certain kinds of drugs, as there may be issues with various factors like chemical stability or pharmacokinetics. As an example, insulin cannot be given orally because upon being administered in this manner, it is extensively metabolized in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) before reaching the blood stream, and is thereby incapable of sufficiently reaching its therapeutic target destinations.
