A cross-sectional assessment of knowledge, attitudes, and practices of safe drug disposal practices in pharmacies

ABSTRACT

Background: Safe disposal of expired medicines is a problem which is current area of intense discussion among policy makers. This project was conducted to explore the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) among hospital pharmacies and drug store owners about expired medicines and their disposal. The information generated could be used to plan proper and safe drug disposal practices. Aims and Objectives: This project was conducted to explore the KAP among hospital pharmacies and drug store owners about expired medicines and their disposal. The information generated could be used to plan proper and safe drug disposal practices. Materials and Methods: The target population for the current project were the pharmacies dispensing drugs to patients. Pharmacies situated in the hospitals were also covered in this survey. KAP survey is designed to explore the present concepts about a topic of public interest in the target population. Results: The present study was conducted in 373 participants. Most of the participants (88.37%) believed that expired drugs should be returned to manufacturers and proper disposition is the responsibility of pharmacists (72.6%). However, few others believed that it should be cumulative responsibility of nursing professionals and municipal corporations as well. Most of the pharmacists were of opinion that expiry date is fixed by regulatory body (56.0%) and depends on storage conditions (59.2%) of drugs. Conclusion: An innovative policy needs to be implemented by the health regulators to strengthen the existing drug disposal policies more effectively.