Medication wastage, storage and disposal at the household level: an exploratory study in UAE

Abstract EN

Background: Improper storage and disposal of pharmaceutical products began to receive global intense attention due to their influence on public safety, the environment and health facilities.

It also raises a societal economic burden.

Appropriate storage and utilization of drugs in households potentially pose a significant reduction in medication waste and unnecessary risk.

Aim: This study is the first study in UAE that evaluates and estimates medication wastage.

In addition, the objective of this study was to investigate the storage and disposal habits of medications among the UAE public.

Method: This is a cross sectional, anonymous, questionnaire-based study of 300 households in UAE.

A validated questionnaire was used to collect the data.

SPSS 26 used in statistical analysis.

Results: The study showed that 100% of people kept some kind of drugs in their houses.

Out of total of 2652 drugs found in the participated households, analgesic drugs were the most common group (23.6%), tablets were the most widely available dosage form (58.7%), leftover medicines were (21.5%), expired medicine were (16.9%), while 23.6% were not in their original package and (48.2%) were not adequately labelled.

Hospitals were the main source of the stored drugs (59.2%).

The most common method of discard medications was trashing into rubbish bin (71.9%).

The total cost of all medications in the selected households was calculated as 176658 AED and the estimated medication wastage was 30%.

Conclusion: These findings raise alarms about the storage, disposal and wastage of medicines within the society.

This study alerts the concern about urgent comprehensive evaluation of the existing national medicine strategies.

Further societal understanding is required for the safe utilization and storing of drugs at home.