Medical sharps in Portugal: a cross-sectional survey of disposal practices among the diabetic population
Objective We aim to determine the disposal site for biohazardous materials resulting from diabetes surveillance and therapy.Design Cross-sectional study.Setting Five Portuguese primary care facilities.Participants We randomly sampled diabetic patients representative of five primary care facilities....
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMJ Publishing Group
2022-09-01
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| Series: | BMJ Open |
| Online Access: | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/9/e060262.full |
| _version_ | 1811181268343193600 |
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| author | Ana Luísa Corte-Real Leonor Luz Duarte Ana Luísa Teixeira Maria Vaz Cunha Catarina Calheno Rebelo Ana Correia de Azevedo João Mário Pinto Andreia Faria Sofia Sacramento Filipa Machado Daniel Martinho-Dias Tiago Taveira-Gomes |
| author_facet | Ana Luísa Corte-Real Leonor Luz Duarte Ana Luísa Teixeira Maria Vaz Cunha Catarina Calheno Rebelo Ana Correia de Azevedo João Mário Pinto Andreia Faria Sofia Sacramento Filipa Machado Daniel Martinho-Dias Tiago Taveira-Gomes |
| author_sort | Ana Luísa Corte-Real |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objective We aim to determine the disposal site for biohazardous materials resulting from diabetes surveillance and therapy.Design Cross-sectional study.Setting Five Portuguese primary care facilities.Participants We randomly sampled diabetic patients representative of five primary care facilities. Inclusion criteria consisted in patients≥18 years old with an active diagnosis of diabetes mellitus (DM). Patients unable to provide written informed consent were excluded.Outcome measure Sociodemographic variables, diabetes duration, type of treatment, medical sharps disposal practices and whether adequate disposal information were provided.Results A total of 1436 diabetics were included. Overall, 53.8% of diabetics conducted regular capillary glicemia measurements, although 45.3% of them had no medical indication. Statistically significant predictors of adequate disposal were not having an active professional status (p=0.011) and having a DM duration between 5 and 10 years (p=0.014). Only being professionally inactive remained an independent predictor after multivariate logistic regression. Less than a fifth of patients on injectable therapy report having been advised by healthcare staff regarding sharps disposal. Over a fifth of the latter report having received wrong advice. The majority of diabetics dispose of biohazardous materials in unsorted household waste (68.1% of needles/devices with needles and 71.6% of lancets). Other incorrect disposal sites identified were recycling bins, toilet and home accumulation. Only 19.1% of the needles/devices with needles and 13.1% of the lancets were disposed of at healthcare facilities.Conclusions Most diabetics have unsafe disposal practices for their biohazardous materials, mostly in unsorted household waste. We identified that being unemployed independently predicts adequate disposal of medical sharps and found evidence of low patient literacy on the topic, as well as poor patient education. Therefore, educating and raising awareness among healthcare professionals is crucial to address this public health issue. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T09:14:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2490012171f34eda80a4ae4cbfaba278 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2044-6055 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T09:14:40Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Open |
| spelling | doaj.art-2490012171f34eda80a4ae4cbfaba2782022-12-22T04:32:23ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552022-09-0112910.1136/bmjopen-2021-060262Medical sharps in Portugal: a cross-sectional survey of disposal practices among the diabetic populationAna Luísa Corte-Real0Leonor Luz Duarte1Ana Luísa Teixeira2Maria Vaz Cunha3Catarina Calheno Rebelo4Ana Correia de Azevedo5João Mário Pinto6Andreia Faria7Sofia Sacramento8Filipa Machado9Daniel Martinho-Dias10Tiago Taveira-Gomes11Family Health Unit Joane, ACeS Ave-Famalicão, Joane, Famalicão, PortugalFamily Health Unit Oceanos, ACeS Matosinhos, Matosinhos, PortugalFamily Health Unit O Basto, ACeS Alto Ave, Cabeceiras de Basto, PortugalFamily Health Unit Ara de Trajano, ACeS Alto Ave, Caldas das Taipas, Guimarães, PortugalFamily Health Unit Oceanos, ACeS Matosinhos, Matosinhos, PortugalFamily Health Unit Famalicão I, ACeS Ave-Famalicão, Famalicão, PortugalFamily Health Unit Joane, ACeS Ave-Famalicão, Joane, Famalicão, PortugalFamily Health Unit Famalicão I, ACeS Ave-Famalicão, Famalicão, PortugalFamily Health Unit Ara de Trajano, ACeS Alto Ave, Caldas das Taipas, Guimarães, PortugalFamily Health Unit Ara de Trajano, ACeS Alto Ave, Caldas das Taipas, Guimarães, PortugalDepartment of Community Medicine, Information and Health Decision Sciences (MEDCIDS), Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, PortugalDepartment of Community Medicine, Information and Health Decision Sciences (MEDCIDS), Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, PortugalObjective We aim to determine the disposal site for biohazardous materials resulting from diabetes surveillance and therapy.Design Cross-sectional study.Setting Five Portuguese primary care facilities.Participants We randomly sampled diabetic patients representative of five primary care facilities. Inclusion criteria consisted in patients≥18 years old with an active diagnosis of diabetes mellitus (DM). Patients unable to provide written informed consent were excluded.Outcome measure Sociodemographic variables, diabetes duration, type of treatment, medical sharps disposal practices and whether adequate disposal information were provided.Results A total of 1436 diabetics were included. Overall, 53.8% of diabetics conducted regular capillary glicemia measurements, although 45.3% of them had no medical indication. Statistically significant predictors of adequate disposal were not having an active professional status (p=0.011) and having a DM duration between 5 and 10 years (p=0.014). Only being professionally inactive remained an independent predictor after multivariate logistic regression. Less than a fifth of patients on injectable therapy report having been advised by healthcare staff regarding sharps disposal. Over a fifth of the latter report having received wrong advice. The majority of diabetics dispose of biohazardous materials in unsorted household waste (68.1% of needles/devices with needles and 71.6% of lancets). Other incorrect disposal sites identified were recycling bins, toilet and home accumulation. Only 19.1% of the needles/devices with needles and 13.1% of the lancets were disposed of at healthcare facilities.Conclusions Most diabetics have unsafe disposal practices for their biohazardous materials, mostly in unsorted household waste. We identified that being unemployed independently predicts adequate disposal of medical sharps and found evidence of low patient literacy on the topic, as well as poor patient education. Therefore, educating and raising awareness among healthcare professionals is crucial to address this public health issue.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/9/e060262.full |
| spellingShingle | Ana Luísa Corte-Real Leonor Luz Duarte Ana Luísa Teixeira Maria Vaz Cunha Catarina Calheno Rebelo Ana Correia de Azevedo João Mário Pinto Andreia Faria Sofia Sacramento Filipa Machado Daniel Martinho-Dias Tiago Taveira-Gomes Medical sharps in Portugal: a cross-sectional survey of disposal practices among the diabetic population BMJ Open |
| title | Medical sharps in Portugal: a cross-sectional survey of disposal practices among the diabetic population |
| title_full | Medical sharps in Portugal: a cross-sectional survey of disposal practices among the diabetic population |
| title_fullStr | Medical sharps in Portugal: a cross-sectional survey of disposal practices among the diabetic population |
| title_full_unstemmed | Medical sharps in Portugal: a cross-sectional survey of disposal practices among the diabetic population |
| title_short | Medical sharps in Portugal: a cross-sectional survey of disposal practices among the diabetic population |
| title_sort | medical sharps in portugal a cross sectional survey of disposal practices among the diabetic population |
| url | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/9/e060262.full |
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