Assessment of the knowledge, attitude, and practice of proper medication disposal of pharmacy students in Centro Escolar University - Manila

Abstract

Several nations, including the Philippines, have neglected the proper disposal of medications. Since pharmacists are involved in every step of the drug process, they are the best people to ask for information on this subject. This study aims to evaluate the bachelor of science pharmacy students enrolled at Centro Escolar University-Manila (CEU-Manila) for the school year 2021–2022 in terms of their knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding the correct disposal of unused and expired pharmaceuticals. A descriptive and correlational study utilizing mixed methodologies was done among 709 randomly selected pharmacy students from CEU-Manila. The data were gathered using a Google Forms survey. Frequency, percentage distribution, and multiple linear regression were the three statistical approaches utilized in this study. The study showed that most students generally had good knowledge and attitude but not good practice towards proper medication disposal, likely due to factors such as the respondents' demographic profiles. It is likely due to factors such as the respondents' demographic profiles. Not having taken dispensing subjects 1 and 2 and not having families with comorbidities have shown to influence the respondents' attitudes and practices as dispensing subjects played a role in their practices. Take-back programs should be implemented as law and promoted in each pharmacy to give knowledge to consumers about improper medication disposal. Continuing education and training for BS Pharmacy programs regarding proper ways of disposing of medication should be required to promote correct medication disposal and apply it in their continuing profession.