Cargando…

The Prevalence of Unused Medications in Homes

The prevalence of unused medications in homes has dramatically increased in recent decades, which has resulted in medication wastage. The aim of this study is to review the prevalence of unused medications in homes and to determine the reasons behind this disuse, so as to help reduce such wastage. T...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Makki, Mutaseim, Hassali, Mohamed Azmi, Awaisu, Ahmed, Hashmi, Furqan
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6631141/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31200530
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy7020061
_version_ 1783435454414061568
author Makki, Mutaseim
Hassali, Mohamed Azmi
Awaisu, Ahmed
Hashmi, Furqan
author_facet Makki, Mutaseim
Hassali, Mohamed Azmi
Awaisu, Ahmed
Hashmi, Furqan
author_sort Makki, Mutaseim
collection PubMed
description The prevalence of unused medications in homes has dramatically increased in recent decades, which has resulted in medication wastage. The aim of this study is to review the prevalence of unused medications in homes and to determine the reasons behind this disuse, so as to help reduce such wastage. The review also sheds light on current methods of disposal of unwanted medications. Here, using a narrative review, we provide an overview of the issues of unused medications, medication wastage, and methods of disposal. We conducted an extensive literature search focusing on subject-related keywords, as given in the methods section below. A search was undertaken through indexing services available in the library of the authors’ institution. Full-text papers concerned with the prevalence of unused medications in homes, written in English language between 1992 and 2018, were retrieved and reviewed. Twenty-five related studies performed in different world regions were reviewed and included. The public, healthcare providers, and governments are all accused of promoting medication wastage in different ways, and thus, they need to be targeted to solve the problem. It was also noticed that the prevalence of unused medications is high in many countries. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are among the most frequently wasted medications, and most of the public just dispose of their expired medications in the trash or toilet. Non-adherence, death, and medication change are among the main causes of medication accumulation and consequent wastage. A lack of policies to return unwanted medications in some countries, as well as public unawareness, carelessness, or illiteracy, are reasons for improper disposal of unused medications that may lead to adverse economic and environmental impacts. Various mitigation strategies (e.g., smart medicine cabinet) have emerged to reduce medication wastage. Joint work among the public, healthcare providers, and various governmental and private organizations is needed to adequately address the issue of medication wastage.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-6631141
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2019
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-66311412019-08-19 The Prevalence of Unused Medications in Homes Makki, Mutaseim Hassali, Mohamed Azmi Awaisu, Ahmed Hashmi, Furqan Pharmacy (Basel) Review The prevalence of unused medications in homes has dramatically increased in recent decades, which has resulted in medication wastage. The aim of this study is to review the prevalence of unused medications in homes and to determine the reasons behind this disuse, so as to help reduce such wastage. The review also sheds light on current methods of disposal of unwanted medications. Here, using a narrative review, we provide an overview of the issues of unused medications, medication wastage, and methods of disposal. We conducted an extensive literature search focusing on subject-related keywords, as given in the methods section below. A search was undertaken through indexing services available in the library of the authors’ institution. Full-text papers concerned with the prevalence of unused medications in homes, written in English language between 1992 and 2018, were retrieved and reviewed. Twenty-five related studies performed in different world regions were reviewed and included. The public, healthcare providers, and governments are all accused of promoting medication wastage in different ways, and thus, they need to be targeted to solve the problem. It was also noticed that the prevalence of unused medications is high in many countries. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are among the most frequently wasted medications, and most of the public just dispose of their expired medications in the trash or toilet. Non-adherence, death, and medication change are among the main causes of medication accumulation and consequent wastage. A lack of policies to return unwanted medications in some countries, as well as public unawareness, carelessness, or illiteracy, are reasons for improper disposal of unused medications that may lead to adverse economic and environmental impacts. Various mitigation strategies (e.g., smart medicine cabinet) have emerged to reduce medication wastage. Joint work among the public, healthcare providers, and various governmental and private organizations is needed to adequately address the issue of medication wastage. MDPI 2019-06-13 /pmc/articles/PMC6631141/ /pubmed/31200530 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy7020061 Text en © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Makki, Mutaseim
Hassali, Mohamed Azmi
Awaisu, Ahmed
Hashmi, Furqan
The Prevalence of Unused Medications in Homes
title The Prevalence of Unused Medications in Homes
title_full The Prevalence of Unused Medications in Homes
title_fullStr The Prevalence of Unused Medications in Homes
title_full_unstemmed The Prevalence of Unused Medications in Homes
title_short The Prevalence of Unused Medications in Homes
title_sort prevalence of unused medications in homes
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6631141/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31200530
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy7020061
work_keys_str_mv AT makkimutaseim theprevalenceofunusedmedicationsinhomes
AT hassalimohamedazmi theprevalenceofunusedmedicationsinhomes
AT awaisuahmed theprevalenceofunusedmedicationsinhomes
AT hashmifurqan theprevalenceofunusedmedicationsinhomes
AT makkimutaseim prevalenceofunusedmedicationsinhomes
AT hassalimohamedazmi prevalenceofunusedmedicationsinhomes
AT awaisuahmed prevalenceofunusedmedicationsinhomes
AT hashmifurqan prevalenceofunusedmedicationsinhomes