Abstract

EVALUATION OF IMPACT OF AVAILABLE ORAL ANTIBIOTIC PACKAGES OVER ENVIRONMENTAL ANTIBIOTIC POLLUTION AND MEDICATION ADHERENCE; A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY IN TAMILNADU

D. Krishnarajan, K. Siva Sakthi, M. Sarukhan*, M. Silpa Gopinath and L. Naomi

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Huge antibiotics are getting wasted from retail pharmacies and as personal waste which contributes to antibiotic pollution. It is a major cause of antibiotic resistance which is a global health issue. This study is to evaluate the wastage of antibiotics from personal use as well as from retail pharmacies and to study the usefulness of compliance packs over antibiotic wastage and to increase medication adherence. Data collection: We collected details using self-prepared questionnaires. Data was collected through face-to-face interviews and online platforms. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the results. Results: The study indicated 53% of the solid oral antibiotic packs were mismatched and 46% were following the guidelines. 10% of the total antibiotics prescribed to the whole population were missed by the patient. The unused antibiotics directly Go to the environment through sewage or municipal waste. 5.75 numbers of antibiotics are wasted on average in each retail pharmacy in a week. More than one-third of them agreed that the wastage is due to packaging issues and 99% of them are sure about the compliance packages that reduce the wastage of antibiotics. Conclusion: Lack of proper awareness about environmental antibiotic resistance, compliance packs as a solution to this issue, and Irrational use of antibiotics results in serious morbidity and mortality as well as additional economic burden leading to a reduction in the quality of a drug, thereby wastage of resources, increased treatment cost, increased risk for adverse drug reactions and emergence of resistance.

Keywords: Antibiotic Pollution, Environmental Antibiotic Resistance, Compliance Packs, Medication Adherence.