Research Information System
2.INTERNATIONAL PARIS CONGRESS ON MEDICAL & HEALTH SCIENCES October 24-26, 2023/ Paris, FRANCE, Paris, France, 24 October 2023, pp.302, (Summary Text)
This study was conducted on 364 volunteers randomly selected in Bakırköy district of
Istanbul province between 1st March - 30th April 2023 with the approval of the ethics
committee. Face-to-face surveys were conducted to collect data on the demographic
characteristics of participants, knowledge on the use of medicines, prevalence and type of
medications at household and attitude on storage and disposal of medications. Of the
individuals who participated in the study, 61.5% were male, 39.0% were between the ages
of 18-24 years, 63.2% had university education or higher and 55.5% of the participants were
single. Of those who were married, 35.2% were living with two people and 51.6%of the
participants had no children. Most of the participants did not have a known chronic disease,
while others had one or more known chronic diseases. The most common chronic diseases
were hypertension and diabetes mellitus. However, it was found that among medicines
stored at home painkillers were the most common. More than half of participants stored
medicines in the kitchen, mostly in a special medicine box or cabinet. Also, more than half
of the participants stated that they stored medicines in places that children could not reach. It
was also determined that 75.3% of the participants sometimes completed their treatment by
finishing the medication prescribed by their doctor. It was observed that a considerable
number of participants kept unused medicines at home in case they needed in the future,
while others delivered them to the pharmacy or health centre. It was determined that 47.5%
of the participants always checked the expiration date of the drugs and did so as soon as they
remembered to check.
As a result, it was observed that not all of the participants did comply with the treatment by
not using the medication prescribed by their doctor until it was finished, and they
discontinued or paused the medication. In addition, we observed that the participants
continued to keep unused medicines with the concern that they might be needed in the future
and disposed expired medicines as household waste, despite effect on the environment.
In order to cope with all of these, it may be beneficial to encourage rational drug use and to
use public service announcements to raise awareness about appropriate route of drug
disposal.
This oral presentation was produced from the graduation project.