Background: Majority of the consumers remain unaware about the disposal of unused or expired medicines. The misuse and improper disposal of medications are a major safety and environmental concern, and therefore the proper disposal of these medications is critically important.
Aims and Objectives: The aim of this study was to know the behavior of individuals disposal practices of unused and expired medicines among the medical undergraduate in B G Nagar.
Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive, cross-sectional questionnaire based study done on 2nd year medical students of Adichunchanagiri Institute of Medical Sciences, B G Nagar. Returned questionnaires were double-checked for accuracy. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) and Microsoft excel was used for statistical analysis.
Results: Total of 128 valid questionnaires were returned with 38.28% male and 61.72% female student participation. About half of the respondents (50%) stored more than 5 medicines followed by 46.88% stored 1-5 medications at home. Majority of them disposed unused/expired drugs in municipality garbage. Majority of respondents held government responsible for creation of awareness for proper medicine disposal. 71.43% felt that drug leftover at home was in tablet form. 74.22% of them were aware of the environmental damage due to unscientific way of drug disposal methods.
Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that the awareness of proper and safe drug disposal among the medical students is quite fair. To make it more effective, the concerned authorities need to implement educational programs regularly.
Key words: Unused Medicine; Drug Disposal; Expired Drugs; Medical Undergraduates
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