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

Table 4

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

Questions	Frequency (%)
Do you or anyone in your household has medications that are no longer needed?
Yes	159 (41.4)
No	225 (58.6)
If yes, what is the reason for having unused medication? ()
Improvement in medical condition	99 (62.3%)
Change of medication by prescriber	40 (25.2%)
Intolerable side effect	17 (10.7)
Keeping for future use	68 (42.8)
What do you do with the unused medicines?
Throw away in household garbage	297 (77.3)
Flush unused medications in toilet/sink	152 (39.6)
Keep at home until expired	43 (11.2)
Burn	122 (31.8)
Give to friends or relatives	11 (2.9)
Return back to pharmacy	10 (2.6)
I do not know what to do	16 (4.2)
What do you do with the expired medicines?
Throw away in household garbage	271 (70.6)
Flush unused medications in toilet/sink	155 (40.4)
Keep at home	14 (3.6)
Burn	126 (32.8)
Give to friends or relatives	10 (2.6)
Return back to pharmacy	7 (1.8)
I do not know what to do	35 (9.1)
Do you separate unused medicines before disposal?
Yes	238 (62.0)
No	146 (38.0)
How do you discard?/way of discarding unused and expired medicines
Crashed before discarding	55 (14.3)
Diluted with water	87 (22.7)
As it is	313 (81.5)
I do not know what to do	45 (11.7)

Multiple response percent might exceed 100.