Zeitschrift für Biomedizintechnik und Medizingeräte
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Assessment of Unused and Expired Medication Disposal Practice in Gujarat

Bhoomi Arora

Accretion of unused and expired medications has been extensively ignored despite its intimidating impact in both developed and developing countries. The present study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of unused and expired medication disposal among the general population of Gujarat. In April 2021, a descriptive, cross-sectional study comprised of 17 pre-validated questions for the disposal of unused/expired medication was distributed through a Google form link. The study was approved by the institutional ethics committee. The population of both the gender between 18-70 was enrolled in the study. The responses obtained were authenticated for precision before analysis. The collected data were analysed by using Microsoft Excel for descriptive statistics. The data is presented in the form of percentages using tables. A total of 537 effective responses were obtained, with 46.50% female and 53.44% male participants. The most common method for disposal of unwanted and expired medication was thrown away in household garbage (59.03% and 74.48% respectively), though 53.07% of them were aware of the environmental mutilation because of the irrational way of medication disposal methods. A significant percentage of participants have stored antibiotics, pain killers, and topical agents with them. Nearly 61.63% of participants were aware of the consequences of improper disposal of medications and 63.87% suggested that proper guidance must be given to the consumer for the same through the government regulatory authorities (47.11%). The present study concluded that Improper disposal of medication waste creates an impact on the ecosystem. These findings conjure that, the strategies and define guideline has to formulate by the regulatory authorities and implemented into action to prevent further imbalance into earth life, human health and improve the handling of unused and expired medication in future among the people.