EFFICACY, SAFETY CONCERN AND DISPOSAL PRACTICES FOLLOWED FOR EXPIRED DRUG PREPARATIONS AMONG MEDICAL PERSONNEL
Khanchandani R, Srivastava B, Sinha A, Gaur S, Gaur S, Bharat S
ABSTRACT
Objectives: The expiry date of pharmaceutical specifies the date that
manufacturer guarantees the full potency and safety of a drug. This
study was designed/undertaken to assess the knowledge, importance
and practices concerning expiry date among medical professionals and
to create awareness about toxic potential and methods of disposal of
expired medicine. Method: This cross sectional study was conducted
in Govt. Medical College, Haldwani associated Dr. Sushila Tiwari Hospital in the Month of
Feb March 2014; on 100 medical professionals Doctors, Nurse and Pharmacist. A
Questionnaire comprising of 17 well-structured multiple choice questions, regarding
knowledge, importance and methods of disposal of expired medicines were framed
distributed to70 Doctor, 24 Nurse, 6 Pharmacist, then collected on the same day.The single
most appropriate answer was assessed and data represented as percentage and analysed
through Microsoft Excel 2007. Result: We observed that 53.33% subjects had knowledge
that expiry date of drug indicate loss of efficacy and 33.33% knows it is actually the loss of
potency and 6.06% believe that Drug become toxic after expiry date and 6.06% believe
nothing happen with drug ,36.36% subjects had knowledge that the expiry date of drug is
decided only by pharmaceutical manufactures 56.06% had misconception that it is decided by
both manufactures and pharmacologist. We observed that majority (54.54%) prefer to dispose
expired medicine by putting them into trash, and 66.66% consider it as most ideal method of
disposal of expired medicine. Conclusion: The study concludes that significant number of
medical professionals lacked proper knowledge and proper practices of safe disposal method. Health professionals are in an excellent position to educate patient on drug disposal. By
getting updated and promoting safe medication disposal, Health professional can make a
difference regarding an issue that affect both public health and environment.
Keywords: Expiry date, Medical Personnel, Disposal methods.
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