Manocha Sachin, Suranagi Umesh D, Sah Ravinder K, Chandane Rakhamaji D, Kulhare Sumit, Goyal Nitesh, Tanwar Krishna
Department of Pharmacology, School of Medical Sciences and Research, Sharda University, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Department of Pharmacology, Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi, India.
Curr Drug Saf. 2020;15(1):13-19. doi: 10.2174/1574886314666191008095344.
Stocking unused or expired medicines or donating these to others can lead to accidental or inappropriate ingestion, increasing the risk of adverse drug reaction(s) and even lead to antibiotic resistance. Further improper disposal of expired or unused medicines is associated with environmental pollution, health hazards and damage to ecosystem. Ecopharmacovigilance is an important area in this context.
To explore the awareness and disposal practices of unused/expired in the general public.
The current study is an observational, cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study conducted in 956 medicine consumers in New Delhi and National Capital Region, India. The knowledge, attitude, and practice of consumers regarding the disposal of unused medicines were evaluated.
The majority (89.9%) of consumers opined that expiry of medicine(s) meant for completion of shelf life, production of toxic chemical and loss of or decreasing of beneficial effects of medicines. Majority (87%) of the consumers stored medicines at home. Almost all (92.6%) of the consumers threw away the expired medicines after storing for few days. Consumers discarded the expired medicines mainly in household trash (73%). The majority (93%) of consumers were in favour of a government program to collect unused or expired medicines from their home.
The knowledge and practices of consumers towards disposal of unused and expired medicines needs to be improved. Health care professionals, government and policy makers should offer training to educate and guide the general public on safe and proper disposal practices of expired or unused medicines.
储存未使用或过期的药品或将其捐赠给他人可能导致意外或不当摄入，增加药物不良反应的风险，甚至导致抗生素耐药性。对过期或未使用药品的进一步不当处置会带来环境污染、健康危害以及对生态系统的破坏。在此背景下，生态药物警戒是一个重要领域。
探讨普通公众对未使用/过期药品的认知和处置方式。
本研究是一项基于问卷调查的观察性横断面研究，在印度新德里及国家首都辖区的956名药品消费者中开展。评估了消费者在未使用药品处置方面的知识、态度和行为。
大多数（89.9%）消费者认为药品过期意味着保质期结束、产生有毒化学物质以及药品有益效果丧失或降低。大多数（87%）消费者在家中储存药品。几乎所有（92.6%）消费者在储存几天后就扔掉了过期药品。消费者主要将过期药品丢弃在生活垃圾中（73%）。大多数（93%）消费者支持政府开展从家中收集未使用或过期药品的项目。
消费者在未使用和过期药品处置方面的知识和行为需要改进。医疗保健专业人员、政府和政策制定者应提供培训，以教育和指导公众对过期或未使用药品进行安全、妥善的处置。
