Research Article
Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Unused and Expired Medication Disposal among Patients Visiting Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Hospital
Table 2
Respondents’ knowledge of unused and expired medicine disposal in Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Mekelle, Ethiopia, July 2019 (
).
| Questions | Frequency (%) |
| Have you ever heard about medicine waste? | Yes | 185 (48.2) | No | 199 (51.8) | If yes, which one of the following can be considered as medicine wastes? () | Expired medicines | 184 (44.9) | Leftover medicines due to some reasons | 150 (39.1) | Damaged medicines that cannot be used | 165 (43.0) | Once opened medication and beyond their recommended use date | 176 (45.8) | Do you have to check the expiry date of your medication? | Yes | 244 (63.5) | No | 140 (36.5) | Have you ever read or heard medicine disposal instructions? | Yes | 151 (39.3) | No | 233 (60.7) | Do you think that inappropriate unused medicine disposal can cause harm? | Yes | 351 (91.4) | No | 33 (8.6) | What do you think is the possible harm associated with inappropriate medicine disposal? | It can contaminate the environment | 291 (75.8) | It can kill wildlife | 244 (63.5) | Can cause accidental swallow by children | 349 (90.9) | How could the hazardous effect of unused and expired medicines be minimized or controlled? | Providing proper guidance to the consumer | 274 (71.4) | Prescribing in quantities and for duration that ensure patient compliance | 113 (29.4) | Lowering the quantities of prescribed medicine at a time | 128 (33.3) | Donating or sharing the unused medicines | 34 (8.9) | Who do you think is responsible to create public awareness about proper disposal of unused and expired medicines? | Mass media | 191 (49.7) | Physician | 259 (67.4) | Pharmacy | 233 (60.7) | The pharmaceutical industry | 184 (47.9) |
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Multiple response percent might exceed 100. |