Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Government College University, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Government College University, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
Curr Drug Saf. 2023;18(2):196-201. doi: 10.2174/1574886317666220513102654.
The practice of disposing expired or unused medications by different households is generally not considered and is largely neglected.
The study was carried out to determine the disposal practices regarding expired and unused medications in rural areas of Punjab, Pakistan.
The study was conducted by interviewing different households and students (rural areas) from different universities in Punjab, Pakistan. The sample size was 676 and the questionnaire was used for data collection.
Out of 676 members, 552 (81.6%) had medications at the time of the visit. Only 14.5% (n= 80) were taking medication. Only 14.5% (n = 80) kept medication because the treatment was still in progress with the patients while 85.5% (n= 472) had medications that should be discarded. The main reasons for keeping the unused medications at home were completed treatment 34.7% (n= 164) after recovering from ailment. About 60.57% of female disposed the drugs in domestic trash while majority of male participants (48.72%) buried the drugs in the ground. Over 80% of respondents (n = 542) were unaware of the disposal methods. Almost half of the participants (n= 322) had no information about the impact of improper disposal. Statistically significant variations (p<0.001) were observed in the disposal practices depending on gender, age, education and occupation.
Improper disposal of medication is a common practice in rural areas of Punjab, Pakistan. The launch of public education programs and the development of drug disposal facilities are very necessary to protect the environment and community health.
不同家庭处理过期或未使用药物的做法通常未被考虑，且在很大程度上被忽视。
本研究旨在确定巴基斯坦旁遮普省农村地区过期和未使用药物的处理做法。
本研究通过访谈不同家庭和来自旁遮普不同大学的学生（农村地区）进行。样本量为 676 人，使用问卷进行数据收集。
在 676 名成员中，有 552 人（81.6%）在访问时有药物。只有 14.5%（n=80）正在服用药物。只有 14.5%（n=80）因治疗仍在进行而保留药物，而 85.5%（n=472）有应丢弃的药物。将未使用的药物留在家中的主要原因是在从疾病中康复后完成了治疗 34.7%（n=164）。大约 60.57%的女性将药物丢弃在家庭垃圾中，而大多数男性参与者（48.72%）将药物埋在地下。超过 80%的受访者（n=542）不知道处理方法。几乎一半的参与者（n=322）不知道不当处理的影响。根据性别、年龄、教育和职业，处理做法存在统计学上的显著差异（p<0.001）。
在巴基斯坦旁遮普省农村地区，不当处理药物是一种常见做法。为了保护环境和社区健康，非常有必要开展公众教育计划和开发药物处理设施。
