Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33917990›Full record

ArticlePharmacy (Basel, Switzerland)2021

Public Attitudes towards Medicinal Waste and Medicines Reuse in a 'Free Prescription' Healthcare System.

David McRae, Abigail Gould, Rebecca Price-Davies, Jonathan Tagoe, Andrew Evans, Delyth H James

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
1.4field-weighted citation impact, top 21% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 17 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Reuse of unused medications: a cross-sectional study on public willingness and influencing factors.Journal of pharmacy & pharmaceutical sciences : a publication of the Canadian Society for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Societe canadienne des sciences pharmaceutiques · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

David McRaePharmacy Department, Prince Charles Hospital, Medicines Management Directorate, Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board, Merthyr Tydfil CF47 9DT, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-2764-2244
Abigail GouldCardiff School of Sport and Health Sciences, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff CF5 2YB, UK.
Rebecca Price-DaviesSchool of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3NB, UK.
Jonathan TagoeSchool of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3NB, UK.
Andrew EvansHealth and Social Services Group, Welsh Government, Cardiff CF10 3NQ, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-9486-283X
Delyth H JamesCardiff School of Sport and Health Sciences, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff CF5 2YB, UK.
Cardiff Metropolitan University · GBCardiff University · GBCwm Taf University Health Board · GBWelsh Government · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This study investigates public attitudes towards medicinal waste and medicines reuse within a 'free prescription' healthcare system. A quantitative online survey was employed in a sample drawn from the population of Wales, where prescription medicines have been 'free' since 2007. Qualitative interviews informed the content of the attitude statements with categorical or ordinal response options assigned. The questionnaire was hosted on the HealthWise Wales platform for 1 year from October 2017. Of the 5584 respondents, 67.2% had at least one medicine on repeat prescription. Overall, 89.1% held strong concerns about medicinal waste. High acceptance for the reuse of prescription medicines which have been returned unused by patients to pharmacies was reported for tablets (78.7%) and capsules (75.1%) if the medicine is checked by a pharmacist first (92.4% rated essential). Concerns identified related to tampering of packs (69.2%) and the need for hygienic storage (65.4%). However, those working in healthcare had less concern about the safety of reusing medicines. The level of public acceptance for the reuse of medication was higher than previously reported. This is the largest survey to capture these views to date, which has implications for the future design of medicines reuse schemes.

Indexed as

medicinal wastemedicines reusemedicines storagepublic attitudespublic viewsrecyclingre-dispensingredistributionre-issuing

Identifiers

PMID33917990
PMCPMC8167727
OpenAlexW3147701659

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.