Practice Math Questions

Some practice math questions from my math test in Pharmocology last Friday. I will post the answers tomorrow so you can test yourself. :) I also had a test today on Units 3 & 4. I will not be studying just off the notes from the lectures anymore. It was way too hard to know all the answers to the questions that way, I think the text helps me to understand the concepts better and then I can make my own logical deductions from there rather than trying to memorize all the different drugs and their sub classes and functions. I still got a B but hey, who wouldn't rather get an A? lol

1. The initial dose of a drug is 0.25 mg/kg of body weight. How many milligrams should be prescribed for a person weighing 154 lb.?

2. The dose of a drug is 50 mg/kg of body weight once daily for seven consecutive days. How many milliliters of a syrup containing 500 mg of drug per teaspoonful, should be prescribed for a child weighing 66 lb.?

3. A physician prescribed 5 mg of a drug per kilogram of body weight once daily for a patient weighing 132 lb. How many 100 mg tablets of the drug are required for a dosage regimen of  2 weeks?

4. A medication order calls for 0.2 mg/kg of albuterol sulfate to be administered to a 23 lb. child. The source of the drug is a solution containing 0.5 g of albuterol sulfate in 100 mL. How many milliliters of the solution should be used in filling the order?

5. If the recommended dose of gentamicin sulfate for a patient with normal kidney function is 3 mg/kg/day, divided into three equal doses given every 8 hours, how many milligrams should be administered per dose to a patient weighing 182 lb.?

6. Rimantadine (anti-viral) HCL syrup contains 120 mg of rimantadine HCL in each 240 mL of syrup. How many milligrams of rimantadine HCL would there be in 2.5 mL delivered by oral dispenser?

7. Ciprofloxacin (Cipro) oral suspension contains 250 mg of ciprofloxacin per 5 mL. A physician prescribed 125 mg of ciprofloxacin q.i.d. x 10 days.
a. How many doses are needed?
b. How many milliliters should be given per dose?
c. How many milliliters of ciprofloxacin oral suspension containing 250 mg per 5 mL should be dispensed?

8. How many milliliters of an injection containing 20 mg of gentamicin in each 2 mL should be used in filling a medication order calling for 2.5 mg of gentamicin to be administered intramuscularly?

9. Pediatric Lanoxin injection contains digoxin, 100 mcg/mL. What volume must be administered to provide a dose of 0.04 mg?

10. The dose of a drug is 500 mcg/kg of body weight. How many milligrams should be given to a child weighing 55 lb.?

11. The dose of gentamicin for premature and full-term neonates is 2.5 mg/kg administered every 12 hours. What would be the daily dose for a newborn weighing 5.6 lb.?

12. The dose of gentamicin for patients with impaired renal function  is adjusted to ensure therapeutically optimal dosage. If the normal daily dose of the drug for adults is 3 mg/kg/day, administered in three divided doses, what would be the single (8-hour) dose for a patient weighing 165 lb. and scheduled to receive only 40% of the usual dose, based on renal impairment?

13. A patient weighing 120 lb. was administered 2.1 g of a drug which was supposed to be dosed at 30 mg/kg. Was the dose administered correct, or was it an overdose, or was it an underdose?

14. The adult dose of a liquid medication is 0.1 mL/kg of body weight to be administered as a single dose. How many teaspoonfuls should be administered to a person weighing 220 lb.?

15. How many erythromycin capsules, each containing 250 mg of erythromycin, are needed to provide 25 mg/kg per day for 1 week for a person weighing 154 lb.?

16. A 25 lb. child is to receive 4 mg of phenytoin (Dilantin) per kilogram of body weight daily as an anticonvulsant. How many milliliters of pediatric phenytoin suspension containing 30 mg per 5 mL should the child receive?

17. Write the following as decimals and add:

a. 2/1000
b. 75/100
c. 3/20
d. 5/8
e. 13/25

18. Give the decimal and percent equivalents for each of the following common fractions:
a. 1/35
b. 3/7
c. 1/250
d. 1/400

19. If an insulin injection contains 100 units of insulin in each milliliter, how many milliliters should be injected to receive 40 units of insulin?

20. Digoxin pediatric elixir contains 0.05 mg of digoxin in each milliliter of elixir. How many milligrams of digoxin would be administered with a dose of 0.6 mL?

Practice questions taken from:
Pharmaceutical Calculations 12th Edition
Howard C. Ansel, Mitchell J. Stoklosa