Unused and expired medication disposal knowledge, attitude, and practices among healthcare professionals in Pune, India

Purpose: To assess healthcare professionals' knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward medication disposal. Methods: This study employed a cross-sectional design, with data collected using an online Google form. The survey links containing 20 questions and demographic data were shared with the official WhatsApp groups and email addresses of various eligible participants. The collected data were presented as frequencies and percentages. A score was assigned to all responses, and an average mean score was used to categorize the respondents' knowledge, attitudes, and practices into good, moderate, and poor categories. Results: A total of 233 participants responded to the questionnaire, and the majority were nurses, 87 (37.3 %). The findings revealed that most respondents had poor knowledge, 95 (40.8 %), and practice, 98 (42.1 %), and the majority, 86 (36.9 %), had good attitudes. Conclusion: The study revealed a significant gap in knowledge and practice among healthcare professionals toward medication disposal.