assessment of the extent of medication wastage among families in Jordan

ABSTRACT

Medication wastage is defined as any drug product that is never fully consumed. This study is the first study in Jordan that evaluates and estimates medication wastage, and cost. A validated questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample of 435 households selected randomly from different areas in the north of Jordan. Of the total of 2835 medication items found in the 435 selected houses, 65.3% were in use, and 34.7% were not in use. Some medicines [5.8%] were expired. The total cost of all medications in the selected households was calculated as 9593 JD [1 JD=US$ 0.71] with an average cost of 22.1 JD per family. The total cost of unused medications in Jordan was estimated at 6,326,000 JD and the total cost of expired medications in Jordan was estimated at 1,267,000 JD. A comprehensive evaluation of the current national drug policies is warranted