Abstract
Purpose The objective of the current study was to determine the prevalence and practice of unused and expired medicine among Saudi adults. Subjects and Methods. The study used cross-sectional web-based design to collect the data, over a period of 4 months among people who are living in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Results A total of 337 questionnaires were obtained during the study period. The majority of respondents were university graduates n = 251 (74.7%). The prevalence of unused medicine was n = 301 (89.3%). The most commonly used drugs were nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs n = 272 (80.7%) and antibiotics n = 164 (48.7%). Of the participants, 186 (55.2%) checked the expiry date of the medicine before they purchase. Most of them n = 305 (90.5%) obtained medicine through prescription. About n = 219 (65%) of them keep the medicine until it expired; 48.1% throw away in the household garbage while only 18 (5.4%) of the respondents said to give it back to the medical store. Conclusion The study revealed a high prevalence of unused medications among Saudi community. However, the disposable practice among the Saudi community was inadequate. Increasing awareness through education programs about proper disposable guidelines is necessary for controlling the medication wastage.
Highlights
Pharmaceuticals remained a top priority for the government bodies in both national and international levels, contributing to a significant rise in the overall healthcare cost
This research demonstrates the prevalence and practice of unused medications and may assist in providing importance and awareness about the disposable practice of unused medicines, among the Saudi public to minimize medication wastage, the present study found relatively high prevalence of unused medicine among the Saudi community, which is similar to previous results [9, 19,20,21,22]
Majority of the respondents obtained medicines in the prescriptions; similar results were found in Kabul [19], while another study by Braund R et al in 2009 using an online survey, reported that 56% of the participants purchased medicine from the doctor’s prescription; the author reported a high prevalence of unused medicine among the New Zealand population [9]
Summary
Pharmaceuticals remained a top priority for the government bodies in both national and international levels, contributing to a significant rise in the overall healthcare cost. A large number of drugs and nutraceuticals available in the market with or without prescription, overprescribing, were found by a number of studies around the world including Saudi Arabia [4,5,6,7,8]. These contribute to the accumulation of excess quantity of medicine, in homes as well as in the environment, which results in toxic effects on the wildlife [9]. It is evidenced that the accumulation of unused or expired medicine leads to a significant for diversion, misuse, and abuse which may even lead to overdose [11]
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