Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude and Practices towards the Disposal of Unused and Expired Medications among Students of Private Medical Universities in Lusaka, Zambia

Abstract

Background: The disposal of unused and expired medications has been a concern in many countries in that, the pharmaceutical waste enters the ecosystem and eventually causes a negative impact on human health and environment. Aim: To assess the knowledge, attitude and disposal practices of unused and expired medicines by students in the private medical universities in Lusaka of Zambia. Method: A cross-sectional survey was conducted over a period of 8 weeks among 391 respondents from three private universities in Lusaka. Respondents were polled using semi structured questions that focused on their knowledge, attitudes, and disposal practices for unused and expired drugs. In order to analyze data, the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 20 was utilized. Results: The mean age of the participants was 23 years (SD: ±3). Out of the 391 participants, 320 (81.8%) knew about medicine waste and 391 (100.0%) responded that unsafe disposal of unused and expired medicine poses a threat to human health and can harm the environment. The drug-take-back system was unknown to a vast percentage of the respondent 371 (94.9%). The majority 274 (70.1%) of respondents had unused medicine stored at home, with antibiotics 215 (56.0%) and analgesia 111 (28.4%) being the most prevalent types of drugs kept in the households. The most commonly used disposal practice for unused 126 (32.2%) and expired medicines 274 (70.1%) was throwing them in household garbage. Only 27 (6.9%) and 30 (7.7%) reported returning unused and expired medicines to the How to cite this paper:

Disposición final de medicamentos caducados/no utilizados en pacientes de un Hospital de segundo nivel de atención de la Ciudad de Machala

“…En un estudio realizado en Brasil, solamente el 22,3% de los encuestados señaló haber recibido instrucciones o información acerca de la eliminación y almacenamiento de medicamentos. (Miranda Pernambuco, 2021) Esto es similar a los hallazgos de un estudio donde la mayoría de los encuestados el 99.2% (388) no han recibido orientación sobre el desecho adecuada de los medicamentos vencidos/no utilizados (Kampamba et al, 2022).…”