Journal of Research in Pharmacy Practice

Patients' knowledge and practice on disposal of medicines kept in households in South Africa: Findings and implications

Authors

Kesentseng Jackson Mahlaba
Elvera Anna Helberg
Brian Godman
Amanj Kurdi
Johanna Catharina Meyer
Abstract
 The disposal of unwanted, unused, or expired medicines is a concern. Currently, there is little knowledge regarding their disposal among patients in South Africa. Consequently, there is a need to address this. Methods: This was a descriptive and quantitative study with patients conducted among 16 primary health-care clinics (PHCs) in South Africa. A structured questionnaire was administered to 171 conveniently selected patients. Data on ideal disposal methods were collected and compared to actual disposal practices. Findings: 74.9% of patients reported having unused medicines at home, of whom 34.4% wanted these medicines disposed of. However, 64.9% did not know how to dispose of them, with 95.3% reporting having never been informed by health-care professionals of disposal methods. While patients prefer to return medicines to their PHC, only 7.0% did so. Patients' ideal disposal practices included designated collection task teams (25.1%) and dissolving their unused medicines in water (38.6%). However, current practices indicated that patients flushed medicines down the sewer (31.6%) or disposed of them in municipal bins (23.9%). Conclusion: Patients disposed of their unwanted medicines using incorrect disposal techniques, which they thought were correct. This urgently needs to be addressed.

Keywords

Household medicine disposal
patients
South Africa
unused medicines
unwanted medicine
Journal of Research in Pharmacy Practice
Volume 11, Issue 1
Winter 2022
Pages 13-18

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