Factors Related to Unused Medications among Diabetic Outpatients at Detudom Crown Prince Hospital

Abstract

Unused medication in diabetic patients is a major problem for causing the loss in budget and may affect the safety of patients. The researcher conducted a cross-sectional survey research. This research aimed: (1) to identify patient and treatment factors related to unused medications; (2) to survey prevalence, items, amounts and values of unused medications and (3) to study factors related to unused medications, all among diabetic outpatients at Detudom Crown Prince Hospital. The population in the study included 3,109 diabetic outpatients who were being treated with oral antihyperglycemic drugs at the hospital. The sample size included 234 patients selected using systematic random sampling. Data were collected using a questionnaire and from drug records by counting tablets. Descriptive statistics and chi-square test were used. The results showed that:  (1) Most of the respondents were female and farmers with an average age of 59.15 years. They had completed primary school, had an average monthly income of 5,021.60 baht. They mostly took antidiabetic drugs by themselves, did not use any herbal medicine and did not know of the medical costs. Over half of them were under the universal health coverage scheme, had inappropriate drug usage, and had a medical appointment every 3 months or longer. Sometime the physician prescribed extra medications; (2) The prevalence of unused medications was 86.80%. There were 20,508 unused drug tablets, valued at 4,770.93 baht. The drug mostly unused was glipizide 5 mg.; and (3) The factors significantly related to unused medications were drug use behaviours, physician’s extra prescription, and appointment intervals. The causes of unused medications were drug use behaviours and doctor’s extra prescriptions. Patients with appointment intervals of ≤2 months had more unused medications than those with >2-month intervals. If they visited the hospital several times, they had an opportunity to receive medicines more often and then had a lot of unused medications.