Department of Commercial Sciences, College of Economic, University Yahia Fares of Medea, Medea 26000, Algeria.
Department of Public Health, College of Health and Human Services, Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT 06515, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Aug 16;20(16):6584. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20166584.
COVID-19 caused an increase in the demand for medications, which led to an increase in pharmaceutical waste and there is no doubt that this contributes to environmental pollution. Hence, it became necessary to search for how to protect and improve the environment by encouraging the behavior of medication waste reduction. Accordingly, this study aims to investigate the factors affecting intentions to reduce medication waste. Considering this, we develop an extended theory of planned behavior (TPB) framework by incorporating the constructs of moral obligation, environmental awareness, and medication waste risk perception. Using the convenience sampling method and based on a self-administered questionnaire, a total of 225 usable responses were collected in five Algerian cities. The results showed that positive attitudes (β = 0.316, < 0.001), moral obligation (β = 0.291, < 0.001), environmental awareness (β = 0.227, < 0.001), perceived behavior control (PBC) (β = 0.151, = 0.001), greater perceived risks (β = 0.127, < 0.001), and subjective norm (β = 0.096, < 0.05) significantly and positively influence the medication waste minimization intention. Furthermore, our analyses revealed that the extended TPB model explained 73.40% of the intention variance. In conclusion, we have explored the intentions, and there may be a gap between intent and actual behavior. Therefore, we recommend future studies to examine the factors affecting the actual behavior of medication waste reduction and to investigate environmental ethics and religious commitment as predictors of waste reduction intentions.
COVID-19 导致对药物的需求增加，这导致了药物废物的增加，毫无疑问，这会造成环境污染。因此，有必要寻找如何通过鼓励减少药物废物的行为来保护环境和改善环境。因此，本研究旨在调查影响减少药物废物意图的因素。有鉴于此，我们通过纳入道德义务、环境意识和药物废物风险感知的构念，扩展了计划行为理论（TPB）框架。我们采用便利抽样方法，基于自填式问卷，在五个阿尔及利亚城市共收集了 225 份有效回复。结果表明，积极的态度（β=0.316， <0.001）、道德义务（β=0.291， <0.001）、环境意识（β=0.227， <0.001）、感知行为控制（PBC）（β=0.151， =0.001）、更高的感知风险（β=0.127， <0.001）和主观规范（β=0.096， <0.05）显著且积极地影响着减少药物废物的意图。此外，我们的分析表明，扩展的 TPB 模型解释了意图的 73.40%。总之，我们已经探讨了意图，意图和实际行为之间可能存在差距。因此，我们建议未来的研究检验影响实际减少药物废物行为的因素，并调查环境伦理和宗教承诺作为减少废物意图的预测因素。
