Kahssay Semere Welday, Hammeso Workineh Woldeselassie, Getachew Dawit, Woldeselassie Behailu Dessalegn
Department of Pharmacognosy and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Mizan-Tepi University, Mizan-Aman, Ethiopia.
Department of Pharmacy, College of Health Sciences and Medicine, Dilla University, Dilla, Ethiopia.
Drug Healthc Patient Saf. 2023 Jan 19;15:1-11. doi: 10.2147/DHPS.S392564. eCollection 2023.
Most households worldwide keep medicines on hand for various reasons, including emergency use, treatment of acute and chronic diseases, and anticipated future use. Being infected or fear of getting COVID-19 in the current pandemic could increase the storage of drugs at home. Thus, this study aimed to assess the prevalence of household storage of medicines and associated factors in southwest Ethiopia during the COVID-19 outbreak.
A cross-sectional household survey was conducted from February 1 to May 30, 2022. Data on the extent of storage, storage conditions, their current status, disposal methods, among others, were collected through structured interviews and observations. The data were entered into EPI info, exported, and analyzed using Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS). Bivariate followed by multivariate logistic regression was used to identify associated factors. P-value <0.05 was used as a cut-off point to decide statistical significance.
The magnitude of household medication storage was 48% (95% CI). Analgesics (28.7%) and antibacterial (21.1%) agents were the most predominant class of drugs stored in the households. The most significant proportion of the home-stored medications (34.7%) was reserved for future use, and 31.8% were for treating current medical conditions. The majority of the respondents (84.1%) had never heard/learned about the safe disposal ways of drugs. The presence of children aged less than 5 years in a household [AOR = 1.90 (1.19, 3.05)] and the existence of chronically sick patients in a household [AOR = 4.3 (2.25, 8.45)] were factors significantly associated with household medication storage.
The current study revealed a high prevalence of home medication storage; thus, to lessen or eliminate the negative consequences of storing medications at home, it is necessary to review the medication utilization chain and offer community-based training on proper medication storage and disposal techniques, including establishing take-back programs.
全球大多数家庭出于各种原因在家中备有药品，包括应急使用、治疗急慢性疾病以及预期未来使用。在当前的大流行中，感染或担心感染新冠病毒可能会增加家庭药品储备。因此，本研究旨在评估埃塞俄比亚西南部在新冠疫情期间家庭药品储备的流行情况及相关因素。
于2022年2月1日至5月30日进行了一项横断面家庭调查。通过结构化访谈和观察收集了关于储备程度、储存条件、药品当前状态、处置方法等数据。数据录入EPI info，导出后使用社会科学统计软件包（SPSS）进行分析。采用双变量随后进行多变量逻辑回归来确定相关因素。以P值<0.05作为判定统计学显著性的临界点。
家庭药品储备的比例为48%（95%置信区间）。镇痛药（28.7%）和抗菌药（21.1%）是家庭储备中最主要的药品类别。家庭储备药品中最大比例（34.7%）留作未来使用，31.8%用于治疗当前疾病。大多数受访者（84.1%）从未听说/了解过药品的安全处置方法。家中有5岁以下儿童[AOR = 1.90（1.19，3.05）]以及家中有慢性病患者[AOR = 4.3（2.25，8.45）]是与家庭药品储备显著相关的因素。
当前研究显示家庭药品储备的比例较高；因此，为减少或消除在家中储存药品的负面影响，有必要审视药品使用链，并提供基于社区的关于正确药品储存和处置技术的培训，包括建立回收计划。
