<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><sec id="j_sjph-2016-0025_s_333_w2aab3b8c22b1b7b1aab1c15b1Aa"><h3>Introduction</h3><p>An ongoing issue of expired medications accumulating in some households is a universal problem around the world. The aim of the study was to investigate the extent and structure of expired medications in Serbian households, and to determine which therapeutic groups generated the most waste.</p></sec><sec id="j_sjph-2016-0025_s_334_w2aab3b8c22b1b7b1aab1c15b2Aa"><h3>Methods</h3><p>This was an observational, cross-sectional study conducted in households in the city of Novi Sad, Serbia. The study had been performed over 8 month period (December 2011 - July 2012) and it consisted of personal insights into the medication inventory in households.</p></sec><sec id="j_sjph-2016-0025_s_335_w2aab3b8c22b1b7b1aab1c15b3Aa"><h3>Results</h3><p>Of 1008 families, 383 agreed to participate and complete the questionnaire (38.3% response rate). In almost a half of households (44.4%), expired medications were maintained. The amount of expired medications was 402 items, corresponding to 9.2% of total medications presented in surveyed households. The majority of expired medications (64.7%) was in solid dosage (tablets, capsules, granules, lozenges), following semisolid (ointments, creams, gel, suppositories) and liquid dosage forms (drops, syrups). Expired medications in the households belonged mostly to 3 categories: antimicrobials for systemic use (16.7%), dermatological preparation (15.9%) and medications for alimentary tract and metabolism (14.2%).</p></sec><sec id="j_sjph-2016-0025_s_336_w2aab3b8c22b1b7b1aab1c15b4Aa"><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>This study revealed that there were relatively large quantities of expired medications in Serbian households, with a high prevalence of antibiotics for systemic use, anti-inflammatory and antirheumatic products, and medications for alimentary tract and metabolism.</p></sec></abstract>

IntroductionAn ongoing issue of expired medications accumulating in some households is a universal problem around the world. The aim of the study was to investigate the extent and structure of expired medications in Serbian households, and to determine which therapeutic groups generated the most waste.MethodsThis was an observational, cross-sectional study conducted in households in the city of Novi Sad, Serbia. The study had been performed over 8 month period (December 2011 - July 2012) and it consisted of personal insights into the medication inventory in households.ResultsOf 1008 families, 383 agreed to participate and complete the questionnaire (38.3% response rate). In almost a half of households (44.4%), expired medications were maintained. The amount of expired medications was 402 items, corresponding to 9.2% of total medications presented in surveyed households. The majority of expired medications (64.7%) was in solid dosage (tablets, capsules, granules, lozenges), following semisolid (ointments, creams, gel, suppositories) and liquid dosage forms (drops, syrups). Expired medications in the households belonged mostly to 3 categories: antimicrobials for systemic use (16.7%), dermatological preparation (15.9%) and medications for alimentary tract and metabolism (14.2%).ConclusionsThis study revealed that there were relatively large quantities of expired medications in Serbian households, with a high prevalence of antibiotics for systemic use, anti-inflammatory and antirheumatic products, and medications for alimentary tract and metabolism.

Analysis of expired medications in Serbian households

University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Clinical Pharmacology, Hajduk Veljkova 3, 21000 Novi Sad,

Slovenian Journal of Public Health

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

ANALIZA KOPIČENJA ZDRAVIL S PRETEČENIM ROKOM TRAJANJA V SRBSKIH GOSPODINJSTVIH

IntroductionAn ongoing issue of expired medications accumulating in some households is a universal problem around the world. The aim of the study was to...

Analysis of expired medications in Serbian households

Article Category: Research article

Published Online: May 10, 2016

Page range: 195 - 201

Received: Sep 15, 2015

Accepted: Mar 21, 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/sjph-2016-0025

© National Institute of Public Health, Slovenia

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.