Survey of social behaviors and awareness of the inhabitants of the city of Córdoba in the acquisition-consumption-disposal process of medicines

Abstract

Medications are one of the most widely used therapeutic tools in the practice of medicine, since they improve or maintain the health and quality of life of the population. These benefits must be accompanied by rational use and proper disposal. If expired and/or obsolete drugs at home are not properly disposed of, there will be adverse effects on the environment such as bioaccumulation in living beings, contamination of drinking water and soil. On the other hand, they can cause damage to human health by generating resistance to pathogenic microorganisms, release of pollutants into the atmosphere, intoxication, loss of efficacy, counterfeiting or illicit trafficking. This constitutes a complex problem, which implies addressing health, educational, economic, social and environmental aspects. Objective: To survey social behaviors of the inhabitants of the city of Córdoba in the acquisition-consumption-disposal process of medicines; evaluate the degree of environmental awareness and measure the acceptance that the implementation of a differentiated collection system would have.

Descriptive observational study, with a quantitative and cross-sectional approach. A specially designed survey was conducted on 606 people, in a synchronous, digital and self-administered manner.

In 95% of the homes studied, medications are consumed; 62% accumulate drugs in disuse; 86.6% of the products that expire, or are left over from some treatment, are disposed of with household waste or in the toilet. Regarding environmental pollution, 88.9% are very concerned; 28.5% of those surveyed consider that it is dangerous for health to accumulate medicines and 49.5% think that disposing of them together with the garbage or down the drain contributes to environmental pollution. 98% of the population would be willing to participate in a drug safe disposal program.

The level of medication consumption is high, there is an accumulation of drugs in disuse and the form of disposal is not adequate if the environmental impact is to be reduced. There is a lack of knowledge about drug contamination and the proper way to dispose of drugs. However, the high degree of environmental awareness of the Cordoba population would allow the implementation of a differentiated collection system for obsolete/expired medicines.