Disposal Practices of Unused Medications Among Patients in Public Health Centers of Dessie Town, Northeast Ethiopia: A Cross-sectional Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-110
Author(s):  
Haile Kassahun ◽  
Dugessa Tesfaye
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Health Centers ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Global Challenge ◽  
Northeast Ethiopia ◽  
Unused Medications ◽  
At Home

Background: Disposal of pharmaceutical waste among patients is a global challenge especially in developing countries like Ethiopia. Improper medication disposal can lead to health problems and environmental contaminations. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess disposal practices of unused medications among patients in public health centers of Dessie town, Northeast Ethiopia. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 263 patients in four public health centers of Dessie town, Ethiopia from March to June, 2019. Face-to-face interviews using structured questionnaires were used to collect data from each study subject. Results: The majority of the respondents, 224 (85.17%) had unused medications at their home during the study period. The most commonly reported disposal method in the present study was flushing down into a toilet 66 (25.09%). None of the respondents practiced returning unused medications to Pharmacy. Moreover, 85 (32.31%) of the respondents reported never disposing their medications and believed that it is acceptable to store medications at home for future use. Conclusion: In the present study, there was a high practice of keeping medications at home and most of the disposal practices were not recommended methods. In addition, most of the respondents did not get advice from pharmacists and other health care professionals on how to dispose off unused medications. Hence, there is a need for proper education and guidance of patients regarding disposal practices of unused medications.

scholarly journals Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices of Unused Medications Disposal among Patients Visiting Public Health Centers in Gondar Town, Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Alem Endeshaw Woldeyohanins ◽  
Meaza Adugna ◽  
Tigabu Mihret ◽  
Zemene Demelash Kifle
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Potential Risk ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Health Centers ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Expiry Date ◽  
Unused Medications ◽  
Gondar Town ◽  
At Home

Background. The improvement of healthcare systems has brought the subsequent increase in people access to medications. The consumers are not able to use all the dispensed medications because of various reasons. The improper disposal of these unused medicines has led to environmental contamination to an alarming extent. Therefore, the study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of unused medications disposal among patients visiting public health centers in Gondar town, Ethiopia. Methods. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 404 patients visiting public health centers in Gondar town, Ethiopia, from August to September 2021, by using standardized and a locally translated semistructured questionnaire. The data were entered and analyzed by using the SPSS version of 21.0. The variable of interest was described in the form of statements and tables. Result. Out of 404 respondents included in the study, 221 (54.7%) of them were female. More than half (226 (55.9%)) of the respondents had unused medicine at home. The common methods of disposal practice were throwing into a household garbage (150 (31.4%)), followed by flushed into toilet/sinks (88 (21.8%)). More than half (286 (70.8%)) of the respondents knew about medication waste and 239 (59.2%) of them checked their medication expiry date. More than half (215 (53.5%)) of the participants strongly agreed that unused medicine can cause potential risk at home and 279 (69.1%) of study participants strongly agreed that children are more vulnerable to the potential risk of unused medicine at home. Conclusion. There was a high practice of keeping medication at home, and most disposal approach indicated by the participants was not recommended methods. Awareness about the proper disposal of unused medicines among the public should be created. Guidelines on safe disposal are required, and an organized method of collecting unused and expired pharmaceuticals needs to be introduced.

scholarly journals Occupational exposure to blood/body fluid splash and its predictors among midwives working in public health institutions at Addis Ababa city Ethiopia, 2020. Institution-based cross-sectional study

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. e0251815
Author(s):  
Solomon Shitu ◽  
Getachew Adugna ◽  
Haimanot Abebe
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Body Fluid ◽  
Infection Prevention ◽  
Addis Ababa ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Public Health Institutions ◽  
Health Institutions

Background Blood/body fluid splash are hazards to health care professionals in their working area. Around twenty bloodborne pathogens are known to be transmitted through these occupational injuries. This problem alters the health status of health care professionals in different ways, including physically, mentally, and psychologically. Even though health professionals especially midwives who are working in delivery rooms are highly affected, little is known about the exposure. So, this study was aimed to assess the prevalence of exposure to blood/body fluid splash and its predictors among midwives working in public health institutions of Addis Ababa city. Methods Institution based cross-sectional study was conducted among 438 study participants in public health institutions in Addis Ababa. Data was collected from March 1–20, 2020 by a self-administered questionnaire. The data were entered into Epi data version 3.1 and then exported to SPSS version 24 for analysis. All variables with P<0.25 in the bivariate analysis were included in a final model and statistical significance was declared at P< 0.05. Results In this study, a total of 424 respondents respond yielding a response rate of 97%. The prevalence of blood and body fluid splashes (BBFs) was 198 (46.7%). Not training on infection prevention, working in two shifts (> 12 hours), not regularly apply universal precautions, job-related stress, an average monthly salary of 5001–8000 were independent predictors of blood and body fluid splashes. Conclusion The study revealed that nearly half of midwives were exposed to BBFS. This highlights the need for key stakeholders such as policymakers and service providers to design appropriate policies to avert this magnitude and making the environment enabling to comply with standard precautions. We recommend that this study may be done by including rural setting institutions and by including other health professionals that are susceptible to BBFS at work. Formal training on infection prevention and safety practice to apply universal precautions will be needed from the concerned bodies to prevent exposures to blood/body fluid splash.

scholarly journals A Facility-Based Cross-Sectional Study on the Implementation of the IMNCI Program in Public Health Centers of Soro District, Hadiya Zone, Southern Ethiopia

2020 ◽  
Vol Volume 11 ◽  
pp. 399-407
Author(s):  
Binyam Gintamo ◽  
Mohammed Azhar Khan ◽  
Henok Gulilat ◽  
Zeleke Mekonnen ◽  
Rakesh Kumar Shukla ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Health Centers ◽  
Southern Ethiopia ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Hadiya Zone

scholarly journals Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Health Personnel in Responding to the COVID-19 Outbreak in Indonesia

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dyah Suryani ◽  
Suyitno Suyitno ◽  
Maretalinia Maretalinia ◽  
Elvi Juliansyah ◽  
Vernonia Yora Saki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Personnel ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Health Centers ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Attitudes And Practices ◽  
Knowledge Attitudes And Practices

The COVID-19 outbreak, which originated in China, has spread to all countries worldwide, including Indonesia. Until July 2021, the growth rate has been gradually increasing, and cases have been found in all 34 provinces of Indonesia. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of health personnel in public health centers towards the COVID-19 outbreak in Indonesia using online self-report questionnaires. A total of 440 respondents contributed to this online survey. The level of average KAP were 7.7 out of 10.0, 14.3 out of 15.0, and 31.9 out of 36.0, respectively. There was no significant association between respondents’ characteristics (sex, marital status, and age) and their KAP, which showed p > 0.05 for all variables. It can be concluded that the level of KAP was good even though the respondents’ characteristics had no association with KAP. 

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