O-43 Pharmacists knowledge, perception and practice regarding medication disposal in Trinidad

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted electronically over 4 months amongst public and private sector pharmacists using a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire comprised 32 questions and four sections - demographics, knowledge, perception and practice regarding medication disposal. Ethical approval was obtained from the four Regional Health Authorities in Trinidad, and the Ministry of Health, Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Data was analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics Version 24. Chi-squared tests sought to detect significant association between demographics and responses.

Results: Of 400 pharmacists, (response rate 52.0%) most were female (63.0%), had less than 5 years’ experience (47.1%), and worked in a community pharmacy (68.0%). Most (79.3%) believed that improperly disposed medications can negatively impact the environment but only 45.2% thought that improperly disposed antibiotics can lead to antimicrobial resistance. Most returned expired drug to the pharmaceutical distributor (80.8%), or disposed through the Drug Inspectorate (63.9%), but 32.3% still disposed of expired medicines in the workplace garbage, with community pharmacies were more likely to carry out this practice (p = 0.011). Most pharmacists (36.5%) do not counsel patients on medication disposal and although most pharmacists (64.4%) would not recommend flushing expired drugs down the toilet, only 20.7% would recommend flushing narcotics which is considered best practise to prevent accident poisoning.

Conclusion: Continuing education for pharmacists is needed to increase awareness of the best practice, along with an awareness campaign on medication disposal.