Investigation of Medication Storage Patterns in the Households of Allied Health Sciences Undergraduates of Sri Lanka.

Abstract

The potency and efficacy of medicines are affected by their storage conditions. Improper home storage could result in a shorter expiry than the package-indicated date. Several studies have reported immense malpractices in the home storage of medicines. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted using an online Google Form among the undergraduates of the Faculty of Allied Health Sciences in Sri Lanka. Among the 203 respondents, there were more females (79.31%), and most (83.74%) were between the ages of 20 and 25. The median (IQR) family size was 4 (1). Of the participants, 86.21% were from the University of Ruhuna and 13.79% were from other universities. Among the total, 45.32% studied in their second academic year. About 92.12% confirmed that medicines were stored in their house. Most households (40.11%) had 1-5 medicines. Tablets (99.01%) were prevalently stored following creams/ointments (82.76%) and capsules (75.37%). The most common storage place was bedroom (78.82%). Although no one kept medicines in the bathroom, some (12.32%) used to store in the kitchen. Only a few kept medicines where directly affected by the sunlight (6.9%), in the refrigerator (2.96%), and inside vehicles (0.99%). One-fourth of the respondents stores suspensions/syrups (25.62%) and injections (24.63%) in the refrigerator. About 70.94% always kept medicines in the original package, while 56.46% kept them in the package received from the hospital/pharmacy. Only 18.72% always shifted them to a convenient container. Although 8.87% always took storage instructions from the pharmacist, 58.62% always followed such instructions. About 9.26% always followed the storage instructions of the package insert. It was concluded that the most common storage place was bedroom while majority of the participants kept their medicines in original package. Fewer participants took storage instructions from the pharmacists. Maintaining optimum storage conditions is essential to maintain the quality and therapeutic effectiveness of pharmaceutical products.