RESUMO
Background: Medication waste has major implications on human and animal health, environmental safety and the health economy. Low and middle income countries have paid less attention to proper medication waste disposal at household and community level. This is the first baseline assessment on medication waste disposal practices among the general public in Sri Lanka.Methods: This was a descriptive, cross-sectional survey, conducted via face to face interviews using a structured questionnaire among selected outpatient clinics at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka. A non-probability sampling technique was used to achieve a representative sample from each clinic. The data collectors were trained prior to administering the questionnaire. Data was presented as descriptive statistics using percentages. Chi-square test was used to find associations.Results: From the total number of participants (n=200) majority were females 135 (67.5%). Majority of the participants (78%) stated that they have unused medicines at home. Among them, tablet form was the commonest (78%) followed by topical preparations (49%). Commonest reason for having unused medicines at home were self-discontinuation as illness resolved (57.5%). There was a significant difference between the knowledge and practices when disposing tablet form (<0.001), syrups (0.002), topical preparations (0.04) and sharps (<0.001). Majority (23%) discarded sharp to rubbish bins. Rubbish bin was the commonest mode of disposal for all dosage forms as well as devices.Conclusions: In this sample majority had unused medicines at home which was compatible with the pattern seen in other countries and need proper attention.
RESUMO
Background: Difficulties faced by visually disabled people when using medicines, self-adopted coping strategies, and medicine-related mishaps have been under-explored locally and internationally. The objective of this study was to gain insight regarding this long-neglected issue. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study, using an interviewer administered questionnaire on 63 visually disabled adults was carried out at a vocational training centre and a school for visually disabled students in Sri Lanka. Results: Among 63 participants, 71% wanted to be independent in medicine use and 79% in spite of difficulties had self-administered medicines. They had difficulty in locating medicines (25.39%), identifying medicines and medicine containers (17.46%), and administering liquid medications (25.39%). These difficulties led to inaccurate dosing (14.28%), missed doses (39.68%), and discontinuation of treatment prematurely (28.57%). Self-adopted coping strategies to overcome these difficulties included using different sized and shaped containers, tying medicines to the attire, and dipping their finger into a measuring cup while measuring liquid medicines. Mishaps related to medicines such as taking vinegar instead of gripe mixture and, putting ear drops into eyes were disclosed. Conclusions: There were many challenges for visually disabled people in taking medicines and some self-adopted coping strategies were inadequate to overcome these.