Patient Practices and Beliefs Concerning Disposal of Medications

Article Figures & Data

Table 1.

Demographic Data for Survey Responders

Variable (Number)	Number (%)
Gender (301)
Male	144 (48.0)
Female	156 (52.0)
Age (301)
18–39	87 (28.9)
40–49	58 (19.3)
50–59	57 (18.9)
≥60	99 (32.9)
Race (300)
Non-Hispanic black	36 (12.0)
Non-Hispanic white	179 (59.7)
Hispanic	21 (7.0)
Asian	18 (6.0)
Other	21 (7.0)
I prefer not to answer	25 (8.3)
Current number of medications (299)
0	13 (4.3)
1–5	206 (68.9)
6–10	67 (22.4)
≥11	13 (4.3)
Unused or expired medications in home (298)
0	130 (43.6)
1–5	143 (48.0)
6–10	19 (6.4)
11–25	4 (1.3)
≥25	2 (0.7)
Visits to pharmacy in prior 3 months (299)
0	39 (13.0)
1	64 (21.4)
2	70 (23.4)
3	53 (17.7)
≥4	73 (24.4)
Had ever been given advice on medication disposal by a medical provider (299)
Yes	59 (19.7)
No	240 (80.3)

Table 2.

Respondents’ Prior Practices and Beliefs Concerning Unused and Expired Medication Disposal

	Number (%)
Patients who have disposed of medications by (number):
Rinsing down a sink (301)
Yes	106 (35.2)
No	195 (64.8)
Storing in the house (301)
Yes	163 (54.2)
No	138 (45.8)
Returning to a pharmacy (301)
Yes	69 (22.9)
No	232 (77.1)
Flushing down a toilet (301)
Yes	162 (53.8)
No	139 (46.2)
Giving to friends or family (299)
Yes	33 (11.0)
No	266 (89.0)
Returning to a health care provider (300)
Yes	42 (14.0)
No	258 (86.0)
Patients who believe it is acceptable to dispose of medications by (number):
Rinsing down a sink (300)
Yes	63 (21.0)
No	151 (50.3)
Unsure	86 (28.7)
Storing in the house (300)
Yes	45 (15.0)
No	213 (71.0)
Unsure	42 (14.0)
Returning to a pharmacy (300)
Yes	200 (66.7)
No	37 (12.3)
Unsure	63 (21.0)
Flushing down a toilet (300)
Yes	107 (35.7)
No	130 (43.3)
Unsure	63 (21.0)
Giving to friends or family (301)
Yes	8 (2.7)
No	285 (94.7)
Unsure	8 (2.7)
Returning to a health care provider (300)
Yes	159 (53.0)
No	56 (18.7)
Unsure	85 (28.3)

Table 3.

Percentage of Respondents Who Had Previously Returned Medications to a Pharmacy or Medical Provider

Variable (number)	Number (%)		P Value
Variable (number)	Yes	No	P Value
Percentage of respondents who had previously returned medications to a pharmacy
Gender (300)			.43
Male	36 (25.0)	108 (75.0)
Female	33 (21.2)	123 (78.8)
Age (301)			.15
<50	28 (19.3)	117 (80.7)
≥50	41 (26.3)	115 (73.7)
Race (300)			.34
Non-Hispanic white	44 (24.6)	135 (75.4)
Other	24 (19.8)	97 (80.2)
Unused or expired medications in home (298)			.10
0	36 (27.7)	94 (72.3)
≥1	33 (19.6)	135 (80.4)
Visits to pharmacy in previous 3 months (299)			.002
≤1	13 (12.6)	90 (87.4)
≥2	56 (28.6)	140 (71.4)
Previously educated about medication disposal (299)			<.001
Yes	27 (45.8)	32 (54.2)
No	41 (17.1)	199 (82.9)
Medications current taking (299)			.16
≤5	46 (21.0)	173 (79.0)
≥6	23 (28.8)	57 (71.3)
Percentage of respondents who had previously returned medications to a medical provider
Gender (299)			.21
Male	24 (16.7)	120 (83.3)
Female	18 (11.5)	137 (87.8)
Age (300)			.08
<50	15 (10.3)	130 (89.7)
≥50	27 (17.3)	128 (82.1)
Race (299)			.33
Non-Hispanic white	28 (15.6)	151 (84.4)
Other	14 (11.6)	106 (87.6)
Unused or expired medications in home (297)			.03
0	25 (19.2)	105 (80.8)
≥1	17 (10.2)	150 (89.8)
Visits to pharmacy in previous 3 months (298)			.05
≤1	9 (8.7)	94 (91.3)
≥2	33 (16.9)	162 (83.1)
Previously educated about medication disposal (298)			<.001
Yes	17 (28.8)	42 (71.2)
No	24 (10.0)	215 (90.0)
Medications current taking (298)			.004
≤5	23 (10.6)	195 (89.4)
≥6	19 (23.8)	61 (76.3)

Table 4.

Comparison of Beliefs of Respondents Who Had Previously Been Advised on Proper Medication Disposal With Those Who Had Not

Beliefs about Medication Disposal	Previously Given Advice on Medication Disposal by a Medical Provider		P Value
Beliefs about Medication Disposal	Yes Number (%)	No Number (%)	P Value
It is acceptable to dispose of unused or expired medications by (number):
Rinsing down a sink (298)			.06
Yes	10 (17.2)	53 (22.1)
No	37 (63.8)	112 (46.7)
Unsure	11 (19.0)	75 (31.3)
Storing in the house (298)			.01
Yes	7 (11.9)	38 (15.9)
No	50 (84.7)	161 (67.4)
Unsure	2 (3.4)	40 (16.7)
Returning to a pharmacy (298)			<.001
Yes	54 (91.5)	144 (60.3)
No	4 (6.8)	33 (13.8)
Unsure	1 (1.7)	62 (25.9)
Flushing down a toilet (298)			.14
Yes	18 (30.5)	89 (37.2)
No	32 (54.2)	96 (40.2)
Unsure	9 (15.3)	54 (22.6)
Returning to a health care provider (298)			<.001
Yes	44 (74.6)	113 (47.3)
No	12 (20.3)	44 (18.4)
Unsure	3 (5.1)	82 (34.3)