Table 2.
General knowledge on unwanted medication.
| Categories | n (%) | |
|---|---|---|
| Did you have unused medicine at home | Yes | 475 (95.5) |
| No | 22 (4.5) | |
| The number of unused medicines at home | 0 | 22 (4.5) |
| 1–5 | 327 (65.7) | |
| 6–10 | 84 (16.9) | |
| >10 | 64 (12.9) | |
| The reason for non-usage | Improved medical condition | 411 (82.7) |
| The drug was expired | 31 (6.2) | |
| Changes in therapy | 25 (5.0) | |
| Nonadherence to medication | 9 (1.8) | |
| Adverse drug reactions | 8 (1.6) | |
| Did not know/sure about the purpose of medication | 5 (1.0) | |
| Instruction for use was unclear | 4 (0.8) | |
| Kept for reoccurring condition | 1 (0.2) | |
| The patient was pregnant | 1 (0.2) | |
| The patient was passed away | 1 (0.2) | |
| Did not know | 1 (0.2) | |
| Method for procuring unused medicines∗ | Prescription drugs | 298 |
| Over the counter drugs | 308 | |
| Received from relatives/friends | 13 | |
| Purchased based on the recommendation from relatives/friends | 68 | |
| Class of drugs∗ | NSAIDs | 372 |
| Vitamins and nutritional supplements | 215 | |
| Antibiotics | 171 | |
| Herbal drugs | 59 | |
| Antihypertensive drugs | 26 | |
| Cough medication | 12 | |
| Antiallergy drugs | 7 | |
| Antidiabetic drugs | 7 | |
| Antiulcer drugs | 7 | |
| Others | 30 | |
| Did you check the expiration date of the medicines before procuring? | Yes | 362 (72.8) |
| No | 98 (19.7) | |
| Did not know | 37 (7.4) |
Note: ∗Could be more than one option.
Abbreviation: NSAID: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.