Abstract
Pharmacists, and thus pharmacy students, must participate in promoting awareness about proper storage and disposal of expired or unused medications. This study aimed to determine Saudi Arabian pharmacy students' knowledge and personal practices regarding storing and disposing of household medications.
This was a descriptive, cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study of pharmacy undergraduates or postgraduates across Saudi Arabia. The online survey was distributed to a convenience sample of participants and supplemented with snowball sampling on social media. Results: Of 807 pharmacy students who viewed the questionnaire, 464 students completed it (response rate 57.5%). Common reasons for keeping medications included having left-over medication (74%) and self-discontinuation of therapy (63.5%). The majority of students (79%) stored their medication in a bedroom or kitchen. Gender-specific variables revealed a gender difference in storing and disposing of these medications. Many students reported previously discarding medicines in the garbage (89%) or giving them to someone else to use (22%). More than half of the sample (60%) had not received any information on how to store or dispose of medications.
The current practice and knowledge of Saudi Arabian pharmacy students regarding storage and disposal of household medications was inappropriate. Concerned authorities (e.g., Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education) should provide proper education to all students on the safe storage and disposal of medications, which may necessitate curriculum reform.
•To allow responsible authorities such as the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia to better understand students' knowledge and behaviors toward handling medicines safely or not, to provide education and implement strategies to tackle this issue.•this is because pharmacists and pharmacy students are at the forefront of modern learning to teach the community the right way of storing and disposing of these medications, by serving as trusted and boundless drug information resources.•this helps to ensure continuity of care as well as reducing medicines waste.