Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards Disposal of in-Home Medication among Community in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia

Aim: Current study conducted with aims to assess general public knowledge, attitude and practice towards disposal of in-home medication among community in Eastern province, Saudi Arabia.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey-based study was conducted from 1st September 2019 to 31st October 2019 among the community in Eastern province, Saudi Arabia. A validated self-administered questionnaire was distributed to easily approachable 1400 participants through social media in which 916 respondents were completely filled the survey form. Chi square test were used for the calculation of variance among the group. P-value less than and equal to 0.05 is considered statistically significant.

Results: The response rate of survey was 65.42%.The mean age of the survey respondents was 30.34 ±9.95 years. Among all the respondents 225(24.56%) respondents were male and 691(75.43%) respondents were female from community of Eastern province, Saudi Arabia. The majority of the respondents 709 (77.4%) (p<0.05) purchased the medicines on prescription. The majority of the respondents 763 (84.8%) (p<0.05) answered that improper disposal of unused and expired medicines causes damage of environment and health. The results revealed that the most common Over the counter (OTC) drugs as follows, analgesics with 456 (49.78%)(p<0.05), Vitamins & Minerals 272 (29.69%), Cold and flu Drugs 84 (9.17%), Food Supplements 56 (6.11%) and in the last Digestive drugs with 48 (5.24%).

Conclusion: Gaps persist in practices, hence vigorous, safe and cost-effective pharmaceutical waste management program reinforced campaign is required. Healthcare providers (HCPs) and community pharmacists (CPs) should organize training to educate customers on standard medicine disposal practices.