Survey of Hospital Pharmacists’ Opinions on Current Situation of Unused Medication Problem
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Abstract
This article aimed to study the opinions of hospital pharmacists on the current situation of unused medication problems. The study was a descriptive quantitative survey. The participants were 352 pharmacists who have worked at the Ministry of Public Health and other sectors. The study was carried out by mailing the survey questionnaire with QR code attached for the participants to perform online. The research tool was developed and proved both content validity and reliability (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.80). The questionnaire was divided into the following five parts: the definition of unused medicines, the perception of benefits to patients, the process of problem solving and activities in the hospital, the opinions of the pharmacist, problems and obstacles in implementing the safe disposal of unused medicines. Baseline characteristics of participants revealed that most of them (40.6%) have worked in the secondary care hospitals. One-third of them (30.7%) have working experience more than 20 years. The research results found that the pharmacists were willing to solve the problems to ensure patient safety. In regard to pharmacists ‘opinions toward drug disposal management, the majority of participants agreed or strongly agreed with the importance of the proper disposal of unwanted medicines. The most selected activities among participants were “campaign for patients”, “raising awareness among prescribers” and “educating the proper drug disposal methods”. The results of this study are beneficial for developing further unwanted pharmaceutical waste management.
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