Community Pharmacists’ Practice, Awareness, and Beliefs about Drug Disposal in Saudi Arabia

The awareness among Saudi people regarding the good and safe practice of drug disposal is fairly low. Community pharmacists’ potential toward drugs disposal directions and practice are not emphasized enough. Therefore, a cross sectional study was conducted in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to evaluate the pr...

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Main Authors: Sultan Alghadeer, Mohammed N. Al-Arifi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-06-01
Series:Healthcare
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/9/7/823
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author Sultan Alghadeer
Mohammed N. Al-Arifi
author_facet Sultan Alghadeer
Mohammed N. Al-Arifi
author_sort Sultan Alghadeer
collection DOAJ
description The awareness among Saudi people regarding the good and safe practice of drug disposal is fairly low. Community pharmacists’ potential toward drugs disposal directions and practice are not emphasized enough. Therefore, a cross sectional study was conducted in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to evaluate the practice, awareness and beliefs of community pharmacists about disposal of unused drugs. Out of 360 subjects who participated in the study, more than 70% returned the unused drugs to the pharmaceutical distributors. Around 80% of the participants confirmed the risk of environmental damage due to the inappropriate disposal of drugs, and 87.5% of them held themselves responsible for preventing such risk. Approximately 85% of surveyed pharmacists believed community pharmacies to be an appropriate location for the collection of unused drugs. There was no significant association between the community pharmacists’ age group and years of practice as community pharmacists with either the awareness of unused medication disposal on environmental hazards, or the beliefs about the appropriate location for collecting unused drugs (<i>p</i> > 0.05). The awareness and proactive accountable responsibility, along with community pharmacists’ belief of appointing pharmacies to collect unused drugs, strongly support the institution of drug take-back programs.
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spelling doaj.art-0ecd57afccbd47dd97d771b21bc3574a2023-11-22T02:06:37ZengMDPI AGHealthcare2227-90322021-06-019782310.3390/healthcare9070823Community Pharmacists’ Practice, Awareness, and Beliefs about Drug Disposal in Saudi ArabiaSultan Alghadeer0Mohammed N. Al-Arifi1Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi ArabiaDepartment of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi ArabiaThe awareness among Saudi people regarding the good and safe practice of drug disposal is fairly low. Community pharmacists’ potential toward drugs disposal directions and practice are not emphasized enough. Therefore, a cross sectional study was conducted in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to evaluate the practice, awareness and beliefs of community pharmacists about disposal of unused drugs. Out of 360 subjects who participated in the study, more than 70% returned the unused drugs to the pharmaceutical distributors. Around 80% of the participants confirmed the risk of environmental damage due to the inappropriate disposal of drugs, and 87.5% of them held themselves responsible for preventing such risk. Approximately 85% of surveyed pharmacists believed community pharmacies to be an appropriate location for the collection of unused drugs. There was no significant association between the community pharmacists’ age group and years of practice as community pharmacists with either the awareness of unused medication disposal on environmental hazards, or the beliefs about the appropriate location for collecting unused drugs (<i>p</i> > 0.05). The awareness and proactive accountable responsibility, along with community pharmacists’ belief of appointing pharmacies to collect unused drugs, strongly support the institution of drug take-back programs.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/9/7/823community pharmacydrug disposalunused medicationenvironmentawarenesspractice
spellingShingle Sultan Alghadeer
Mohammed N. Al-Arifi
Community Pharmacists’ Practice, Awareness, and Beliefs about Drug Disposal in Saudi Arabia
Healthcare
community pharmacy
drug disposal
unused medication
environment
awareness
practice
title Community Pharmacists’ Practice, Awareness, and Beliefs about Drug Disposal in Saudi Arabia
title_full Community Pharmacists’ Practice, Awareness, and Beliefs about Drug Disposal in Saudi Arabia
title_fullStr Community Pharmacists’ Practice, Awareness, and Beliefs about Drug Disposal in Saudi Arabia
title_full_unstemmed Community Pharmacists’ Practice, Awareness, and Beliefs about Drug Disposal in Saudi Arabia
title_short Community Pharmacists’ Practice, Awareness, and Beliefs about Drug Disposal in Saudi Arabia
title_sort community pharmacists practice awareness and beliefs about drug disposal in saudi arabia
topic community pharmacy
drug disposal
unused medication
environment
awareness
practice
url https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/9/7/823
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