ArticleBMC public health2024
Assessing the prevalence of unused medicines at home and associated factors: a community-based cross-sectional study.
Article in BMC public health, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Determinants of Medication Storage and Disposal Practices in Brazil: A Cross-Sectional Study with Implications for Environmental Exposure.Epidemiologia (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Unused medicines among households in internally displacement (IDP) camps in Ethiopia: an explanatory sequential mixed-methods study.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Household disposal of unused and expired medications in Bahir Dar City, Northwest Ethiopia: Knowledge, attitudes, practices, and factors associated with good disposal practices.SAGE open medicine · 2026Article
- Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of drug disposal in the United Arab Emirates.Journal of public health research · 2026Article
- Prevalence and determinants of unused medicines among households in Ethiopia: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2025Article
- Alleviation of mycobacterial infection by impairing motility and biofilm formation via natural and synthetic molecules.World journal of microbiology & biotechnology · 2025Review
- Article
- Disposal Practices of Leftover Medicines Among University of Rwanda Undergraduate Students.Integrated pharmacy research & practice · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
backgroundPrescriptions come with extensive instructions on taking medicines but provide little information about the burden of unused medicines. This issue centers around the vast quantities of unused medications accumulated in households. The study aimed to assess the prevalence of unused medicines and associated factors in Gondar City.
methodThe study was conducted through a community-based cross-sectional survey in Gondar City from July 30 to August 30, 2023. The data was collected using the Kobo toolbox, exported into an Excel sheet, and then analyzed using SPSS version 27 software. Both multivariate and bivariate binary logistic regressions were performed in the data analysis. A p-value of 0.05 with a 95% confidence interval was used to determine statistical significance.
resultThe study interviewed 786 participants, with a 92.8% response rate. 55% of the 786 households surveyed kept unused medications at home, most commonly antibiotics (37%), antipyretics (17.6%), and analgesics (15%). Factors associated with having unused medicines at home included not receiving medication information (AOR = 2.327, 95% CI: 1.535, 3.527), having a chronic disease (AOR = 5.897, 95% CI: 3.667, 9.484), having health insurance coverage (AOR = 1.456, 95% CI: 1.036, 2.047), self-medicating with NSAIDs (AOR = 2.018, 95% CI: 1.396, 2.919), and poor disposal practices (AOR = 3.613, 95% CI: 2.546, 5.127).
conclusionThe study found a considerable high prevalence of unused medications in Gondar City due to factors like lack of medication education, chronic conditions, insurance coverage, self-medication, and poor disposal practices. To address this, public education programs and safe disposal guidelines should be implemented to promote safer practices.
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