An exploratory study on medications in Qatar homes

Abstract

BackgroundDrug therapy is the most often used intervention for treatment and prevention of disease. However, if used inappropriately, drugs can cause more harm than good. Improper drug storage and disposal can have a direct impact on public safety, the environment, and the health care services. The purpose of this study was to characterize medications stored in Qatar homes and to explore their methods of storage and disposal, and to identify the public’s source of information related to medicines.MethodsFor the purpose of this cross-sectional exploratory study, a list of telephone numbers was generated from Qatar’s telephone directory using a systematic sampling method. Individuals consenting to participate were interviewed using a multipart pretested survey instrument.ResultsData were collected from a total of 49 homes. Most respondents did not have a designated compartment or box specifically for storing medications. The majority of drugs (48%) were kept in bedrooms and a number of respondents were keeping their drugs in the fridge and in the kitchen. The most often stored classes of medicines were analgesics, antihistamines, nutritional supplements, and medications used for the respiratory system. Most respondents disposed of unwanted medicines by throwing them in the trash. In about 15% of cases, the dosage of drug taken was different from the instructions on the label. Sharing of prescription medicines was not uncommon. The majority of respondents sought information related to drugs from doctors.ConclusionThese findings raise concerns about how medications are stored and disposed of in the community. The fact that no household routinely returned unwanted medications to a pharmacy for proper disposal places the environment at risk. There is a need for more societal awareness about the safe handling and storage of drugs in the home, and about the professional role of the pharmacist.

Awareness of home drug storage and utilization habits: Saudi study

“…In accordance with other studies, it is not surprising that most of the respondents were female given that responses were often filled in and received at a time of the day or office hours of their male partners [1,3,8,9]. There was a potential for section and analysis bias in this study since there were significant differences between participants' demographics of age distribution, income, education level and nationality of respondents.…”

“…It was noticed that 77.66% of our participants kept drugs at home which is less than what were reported in other studies; 97.7% in the Sudanese study, 94% in the Iraqi study and 100% in a Qatari study. Only northern Uganda showed less percent (35%) [1,3,8,9].…”

“…Of note, all above-mentioned studies surveyed participants to name drugs they store at home where the most common drugs stored at home in all studies were antibiotics, analgesics, antispasmodics, cough drugs, antipyretic drugs, and insülin [1][2][3]8]. However, our study mainly focused on the storage of the most photo-labile and heat sensitive medications like insulin and antibiotics.…”

“…Drug therapy represents the most common used modality of prevention and treatment of diseases [1]. The level of access to medications relies mainly on the most known classification of medication to either "prescribed" medications or "over the count" medications.…”

“…The safety, efficacy and abuse potential are the essential dependent factors of this classification. While drug-induced problems are considered the most crucial concerns to healthcare professionals, improper storage and disposal of medication can contribute to the share of this problem [1].…”