Assessing the effect of a brief educational intervention on pharmacists' and pharmacy students' attitudes and knowledge regarding medicine disposal

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Sheila M. Seed, MPH, RPh¹, Courtney I. Jarvis, PharmD¹, Karyn M. Sullivan, MPH, RPh¹, Matthew A. Silva, PharmD¹, and Gary R. Tataronis, MS². (1) Department of Pharmacy Practice, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, 19 Foster Street, Worcester, MA 01608, 508-373-5622, sheila.seed@wor.mcphs.edu, (2) School of Arts and Sciences, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, 179 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115

Pharmacists are routinely asked about unused or expired medicine disposal. Past recommendations have included flushing medicine down the toilet or washing medicine down the sink. These recommendations have been shown to have a negative impact on the environment. New and more environmentally safe recommendations are currently being promoted. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of a brief educational intervention on pharmacists' and pharmacy students' attitudes and knowledge with regard to medicine disposal. Phase one of this project involved surveying 100 pharmacy students before and after the introduction of a lecture on medication disposal into the curriculum. 76 students (response rate 76 percent) completed the pre and post questionnaires. Phase 2 involved surveying 488 pharmacists before and after a brief educational intervention (a mailed newsletter). 158 pharmacists (response rate 32 percent) completed the pre and post questionnaires. The Fisher's Exact Test for proportions was used to evaluate responses with a predefined significance of less than or equal to 0.05. Results from both phases demonstrated statistically significant changes in the perception of inappropriate medicine disposal as an environmental problem in the post-intervention surveys. Statistically significant changes in medicine disposal recommendations were also seen in both groups following the intervention. A brief educational intervention is effective at changing pharmacy students' and pharmacists' attitudes and knowledge of disposal practices. Further educational efforts are necessary for improving pharmacists' knowledge regarding safe medicine disposal practices.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

1.List the mechanisms that allow drug residues to enter the ground water.
2.Articulate environmentally safe recommendations for the disposal of outdated/expired medicine.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered

Environment Section Poster Session IV

The 134th Annual Meeting & Exposition (November 4-8, 2006) of APHA