Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Unused and Expired Medication Disposal among Patients Visiting Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Hospital

Table 2

Respondents’ knowledge of unused and expired medicine disposal in Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Mekelle, Ethiopia, July 2019 ().

Questions	Frequency (%)
Have you ever heard about medicine waste?
Yes	185 (48.2)
No	199 (51.8)
If yes, which one of the following can be considered as medicine wastes? ()
Expired medicines	184 (44.9)
Leftover medicines due to some reasons	150 (39.1)
Damaged medicines that cannot be used	165 (43.0)
Once opened medication and beyond their recommended use date	176 (45.8)
Do you have to check the expiry date of your medication?
Yes	244 (63.5)
No	140 (36.5)
Have you ever read or heard medicine disposal instructions?
Yes	151 (39.3)
No	233 (60.7)
Do you think that inappropriate unused medicine disposal can cause harm?
Yes	351 (91.4)
No	33 (8.6)
What do you think is the possible harm associated with inappropriate medicine disposal?
It can contaminate the environment	291 (75.8)
It can kill wildlife	244 (63.5)
Can cause accidental swallow by children	349 (90.9)
How could the hazardous effect of unused and expired medicines be minimized or controlled?
Providing proper guidance to the consumer	274 (71.4)
Prescribing in quantities and for duration that ensure patient compliance	113 (29.4)
Lowering the quantities of prescribed medicine at a time	128 (33.3)
Donating or sharing the unused medicines	34 (8.9)
Who do you think is responsible to create public awareness about proper disposal of unused and expired medicines?
Mass media	191 (49.7)
Physician	259 (67.4)
Pharmacy	233 (60.7)
The pharmaceutical industry	184 (47.9)

Multiple response percent might exceed 100.