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Effect of Expired-Medicine Disposal Education on Household Medicine Disposal Practices in Nigeria

Abstract

Improper disposal of expired and unused medicines is an emerging public health and environmental concern because medicines discarded in household waste, toilets, drains, open spaces, or other inappropriate locations may contribute to accidental poisoning, environmental contamination, antimicrobial resistance, and unintended access to medicines. In Nigeria, many households may retain expired or unused medicines because of limited awareness of appropriate disposal methods, uncertainty about where medicines can be returned, inadequate disposal facilities, and misconceptions regarding safe disposal practices. Expired-medicine disposal education provides an opportunity to improve household knowledge and encourage appropriate practices for managing unwanted medicines. Against this background, this study investigates the effect of expired-medicine disposal education on household medicine disposal practices in Nigeria. The study will be anchored on the Health Belief Model, Health Literacy Framework, and Social Cognitive Theory. The Health Belief Model explains how household members' perceptions of the risks associated with improper medicine disposal, perceived benefits of safe disposal, perceived barriers, and cues to action may influence disposal practices. The Health Literacy Framework emphasizes the ability of individuals to access, understand, evaluate, and apply information concerning the safe handling and disposal of medicines. Social Cognitive Theory emphasizes learning through observation, practical demonstration, self-efficacy, reinforcement, and environmental support in the adoption of appropriate health practices. Collectively, these theoretical perspectives provide a suitable framework for explaining how expired-medicine disposal education may influence household medicine disposal practices in Nigeria. The study will adopt a quantitative quasi-experimental or analytical cross-sectional research design. The study population will comprise adults responsible for medicine storage and disposal within selected households across Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique will be used to select geopolitical zones, states, local government areas, communities, households, and eligible participants. Expired-medicine disposal education will be assessed using indicators such as exposure to structured educational sessions, information on identifying expired and unwanted medicines, health and environmental risks of improper disposal, appropriate disposal methods, medicine take-back options where available, the role of pharmacies and healthcare facilities, safe temporary storage before disposal, and practices to avoid such as flushing medicines into toilets or discarding them indiscriminately. Household medicine disposal practices will be assessed using indicators such as segregation of expired and unused medicines, safe storage before disposal, use of authorized medicine take-back or collection points where available, return of medicines to pharmacies or healthcare facilities where accepted, appropriate disposal according to local guidance, and avoidance of unsafe practices such as disposal in open spaces, drains, toilets, or ordinary household waste where inappropriate. Data will be collected using structured questionnaires, household medicine inventories where ethically and practically appropriate, observation checklists, educational programme attendance records, and relevant community pharmacy or healthcare facility records. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize participants' characteristics, exposure to disposal education, household medicine storage patterns, and disposal practices. Inferential statistical techniques, including chi-square tests, t-tests, correlation analysis, and logistic or multiple regression analysis where appropriate, will be used to determine the effect of expired-medicine disposal education on household medicine disposal practices. Where a quasi-experimental design is adopted, disposal-practice scores before and after the educational intervention may be compared with those of a comparison group to determine changes associated with the programme. Diagnostic tests will also be conducted to assess the reliability, validity, and robustness of the findings. The study is expected to find that expired-medicine disposal education has a significant positive effect on household medicine disposal practices in Nigeria. Households exposed to structured disposal education are expected to demonstrate improved ability to identify expired and unwanted medicines and adopt safer disposal practices. Education may increase awareness of the health and environmental consequences of inappropriate medicine disposal and encourage households to use appropriate collection, return, or disposal options available within their communities. Practical demonstrations, visual materials, clear instructions, community pharmacy counselling, and information about accessible medicine take-back points may strengthen household confidence in safely managing unwanted medicines. However, limited availability of authorized disposal or take-back facilities, geographical barriers, financial constraints, low health literacy, inadequate public awareness, uncertainty about disposal procedures, and weak pharmaceutical-waste management systems may limit the effectiveness of education alone. The study therefore expects accessible, practical, culturally appropriate, and regularly reinforced expired-medicine disposal education, combined with available disposal infrastructure, to contribute significantly to improved household medicine disposal practices in Nigeria. The study is expected to contribute to the literature on medicine disposal practices, pharmaceutical waste management, household health practices, environmental health, medication safety, antimicrobial resistance prevention, health education, and public health in Nigeria. The findings will provide useful information to the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, state ministries of health, local government health authorities, community pharmacies, healthcare facilities, pharmaceutical organizations, environmental health agencies, development partners, and policymakers regarding strategies for improving household management of unwanted medicines. The study will also provide evidence-based recommendations for strengthening public education on medicine disposal, establishing and publicizing accessible medicine take-back programmes, improving collaboration between pharmacies and healthcare facilities, developing clear household disposal guidance, and strengthening pharmaceutical-waste management systems across Nigeria.

Keywords: Expired-medicine disposal education, household medicine disposal practices, pharmaceutical waste, unused medicines, medicine safety, environmental health, health education, medicine take-back, pharmaceutical waste management, Nigeria, public health.