Drug Disposal: Knowledge and Practice Among Pharmacy Students in Brazil

Viana, Gustavo Freitas de Sousa; Magalhães, Geilson Lessa de; Santos, Eulália Heleodora Santana Martins dos

doi:10.14450/2318-9312.v31.e2.a2019.pp93-103

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Furthermore, disposing expired medications in the garbage is the most commonly reported practice in various studies conducted in England [23], Lithuania [25], Serbia [26], Malta [27], Ireland [27,28], Romania [29], Cyprus [30], Poland [31], Pakistan [32,33], Bangladesh [34], India [35,36], Malaysia [37][38][39], Thailand [40], Hong Kong [41], China [42], Egypt [43], Ethiopia [44], Nigeria [45,46], Ghana [47], Kuwait [48,49], Qatar [50], Saudi Arabia [51], Israel [52], United States [53][54][55][56], Brazil [57,58], New Zealand [20], and Australia [19].…”

Section: Literature Review Of Some Reported Disposal Practices Aroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Expired Medication: Societal, Regulatory and Ethical Aspects of a Wasted Opportunity

Alnahas

Yeboah

Fliedel

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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A massive volume of expired medications amasses annually around the world because of pharmaceutical overprescription, combined with overproduction. The accumulation of pharmaceutical waste imposes ecological, economic and social/ethical burdens. Managing this presumed “waste” has developed into a global challenge due to the absence of specific regulations, unreasonable behavior of the patients, and an improper understanding of the concept of “expired medications” in general. This paper summaries, first, the recent literature reporting practices related to the disposal of unused medications. In this context, 48 papers from 34 countries with a total of 33,832 participants point towards a significant lack of public awareness regarding the appropriate disposal of such biologically potent chemicals. These findings are corroborated by a local survey on the disposal practices of unused medicines among pharmacy students at Saarland University. The regulatory aspects surrounding this topic, often based on the official guidelines for the disposal of expired medications and local waste management strategies, are then discussed in light of these findings. Finally, a closer inspection of the epistemic values of expired medications and different strategies for managing expired medications have been reviewed.

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Section: Literature Review Of Some Reported Disposal Practices Aroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Expired Medication: Societal, Regulatory and Ethical Aspects of a Wasted Opportunity

Alnahas

Yeboah

Fliedel

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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“…[48][49][50][51][57][58][59] Also in agreement is that the most common method of disposing of medications was to throw them in the household trash. 48,49,51,[57][58][59][60] This could also be because most of the respondents in our study were not informed about the proper disposal of medicines. Indeed, in our study and in other studies, 48,60 pharmacy students who were already familiar with proper medication disposal were more likely to return unused drugs to a pharmacy.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…48,49,51,[57][58][59][60] This could also be because most of the respondents in our study were not informed about the proper disposal of medicines. Indeed, in our study and in other studies, 48,60 pharmacy students who were already familiar with proper medication disposal were more likely to return unused drugs to a pharmacy. This suggests that one possible factor is a lack of education about medication disposal.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecopharmacology: Knowledge, Attitude, and Medication Disposal Practice Among Pharmacy Students

Gubae,

Arega Moges,

Agegnew Wondm

et al. 2023

IPRP

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Background Ecopharmacology, as a form of drug management for the environment, focuses on the impact of drugs on the environment. Pharmacists, and by extension pharmacy students, are expected to play an important role in ecopharmacology. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the knowledge and attitude towards ecopharmacology and the practice of disposal of leftover or expired medicines among pharmacy students. Methods This was a descriptive cross-sectional study among pharmacy students in Northwestern Ethiopia. The study took place from May 1 to June 15, 2023. A self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Results Four hundred and forty-five students were included in the study. Only 91 (20%) of the students were aware of the term ecopharmacology, 27% knew that excretion from the human or animal body is the major route by which pharmaceutical agents enter the environment, and 42% were aware of the risk of increased antimicrobial resistance due to antibiotic residues in the environment. In addition, only 27% of respondents reported receiving information about the disposal of pharmaceuticals. The most common method of disposing of medications was throwing them away in household trash (61.8%). Conclusion Our results suggest that while most pharmacy students in Ethiopia have a positive attitude toward ecopharmacology, they do not know enough about ecopharmacology and dispose of their medicines poorly. More uniform education in ecopharmacology and pharmaceutical pollution might be warranted in the pharmacy curriculum.

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Pharmacy and Nursing Students’ Knowledge and Practices Concerning the Disposal of Unused and Expired Medicines in Kosovo

Shuleta-Qehaja¹,

Kelmendi²

2022

Pharmacy

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This descriptive cross-sectional study aimed to assess the knowledge and practices of pharmacy and nursing students at a medical college in Kosovo concerning unused and expired medications. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 500 randomly selected students of pharmacy (200 questionnaires) and nursing students (300 questionnaires). Overall, 336 returned the filled forms and the response rate was 67.2. SPSS version 26.0 was utilized for statistical analysis. The results showed that 89.2% of pharmacy students and 82.2% of nursing students check the expiration date of medications before purchasing them and a considerable number of students stated that they possess unused medicines at home (78.4% of pharmacy and 74% of nursing students). Regarding disposal practice, over 50% of both nursing and pharmacy students dispose of unused and expired medications in the trash. A small proportion of students returned unused or expired medicines to the pharmacy (11.4% of pharmacy students and 10.7% of nursing students return unused medications, whereas 14.4% of pharmacy respondents and 10.1% of nursing respondents reported returning expired medicines). There was a statistically significant difference in the ways pharmacy and nursing students purchase pharmaceuticals and in their opinions regarding institutions in charge of disposing of unused and expired medicines (p = 0.000). Students are aware of the detrimental effects improper disposal of unused and expired medicines has on the environment and public health, but lack information regarding the return of unused and expired medicines to the pharmacy. To change the existing practice the most appropriate method would be to add additional lectures on safe disposal practices into existing modules. It is recommended for involved stakeholders in Kosovo to organize training, seminars, and workshops for health professionals especially pharmacists and nurses, since they pass the information to patients/consumers as well as the government to make amendments to current legislation to ameliorate the returning procedures for patients/consumers in pharmacies.

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Drug Disposal: Knowledge and Practice Among Pharmacy Students in Brazil

Cited by 3 publications

References 31 publications

Expired Medication: Societal, Regulatory and Ethical Aspects of a Wasted Opportunity

Expired Medication: Societal, Regulatory and Ethical Aspects of a Wasted Opportunity

Ecopharmacology: Knowledge, Attitude, and Medication Disposal Practice Among Pharmacy Students

Pharmacy and Nursing Students’ Knowledge and Practices Concerning the Disposal of Unused and Expired Medicines in Kosovo

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