Medication Disposal Practices, Awareness, and Medication Adherence Among Patients with Chronic Conditions: Implications for Public Health

Sep 29, 2026

Medication disposal knowledge is a key component of safe pharmaceutical management, while medication adherence remains essential for optimal treatment outcomes among patients with chronic conditions. Poor adherence can contribute to medication accumulation and waste, posing environmental and public health risks. This cross-sectional study evaluated medication disposal knowledge, policy awareness and satisfaction, and medication adherence among 273 chronic disease patients at a Taipei hospital, comparing outcomes across demographic and clinical subgroups.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Purpose

Patients and Methods

Results

Conclusion

Keywords

Received, Accepted, and Published

Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare Open Access Full Text Article ORIGINAL RESEARCH Medication Disposal Practices, Awareness, and Medication Adherence Among Patients with Chronic Conditions: Implications for Public Health Su-Han Hsu 1–3,*, Shu-Chuan Wu4,*, Si-Wen Lin2, Yu-Cheng Lin2, Yu-Meng Yang 5, Shih-Horng Huang 6, Joseph Jordan Keller7–9, Kung-Pei Tang 10, 11, Li-Hsuan Wang 1, 12 1School of Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan; 2Department of Pharmacy, Taipei City Hospital Yangming Branch, Taipei, Taiwan; 3Department of Exercise and Health Sciences, University of Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan; 4Department of Pharmacy, Taipei City Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; 5Graduate Institute of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; 6Department of Surgery, Division of General Surgery, Fu Jen Catholic University Hospital, New Taipei City, Taiwan; 7Department of Psychiatry, Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M. D. School of Medicine, Kalamazoo, MI, USA; 8Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA; 9Department of Psychiatry, Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center, Seattle, WA, USA; 10Department of Education and Humanities in Medicine, School of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan; 11Department of Early Childhood and Family Education, College of Education, National Taipei University of Education, Taipei, Taiwan; 12Department of Pharmacy, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan *These authors contributed equally to this work Correspondence: Li-Hsuan Wang, Department of Pharmacy, Taipei Medical University Hospital, No. 250 Wu-Hsing Street, Taipei, 11031, Taiwan, Tel +886-2-2737-2181 \#8434, Fax +886-2-2739-0671, Email [shiuan@tmu.edu.tw](shiuan@tmu.edu.tw); Kung-Pei Tang, Department of Early Childhood and Family Education, College of Education, National Taipei University of Education, No. 134, Sec. 2, Heping E. Road, Taipei, 106320, Taiwan, Tel +886-2-2732-1104 \#52461, Fax +886-2-2738-4763, Email [kptang@mail.ntue.edu.tw](kptang@mail.ntue.edu.tw) Purpose: Medication disposal knowledge is a key component of safe pharmaceutical management, while medication adherence remains essential for achieving optimal treatment outcomes among patients with chronic conditions. However, poor adherence may contribute to medication accumulation and waste, which, if not disposed of properly, can pose risks to environmental and public health. Therefore, this study aimed to assess medication disposal knowledge, policy awareness and satisfaction, as well as medication adherence among chronic disease patients, and to examine how these outcomes differed across demographic and clinical subgroups. Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional design was employed, collecting data from 273 chronic disease patients with long term medication usages at a hospital in Taipei, Taiwan. The questionnaire covered knowledge of medication disposal, medication adherence, clarity of the disposal policy and satisfaction with the disposal policy promotional strategies, and socio-demographics. Independent samples t-tests were used to assess the influence of demographic characteristics on knowledge and adherence. Pearson correlation coefficients were applied to evaluate the relationship between knowledge of medication disposal and medication adherence. Results: Younger age and higher education were associated with better medication disposal knowledge. Medication adherence was significantly higher among patients over 65, lower education, who lived alone and those taking five or more medications. The medication disposal knowledge was not significantly different between good or poor adherence. Although most respondents were unaware of the recycling label on medication bags, those who knew the location of disposal stations scored higher knowledge of medication disposal, clarity in the disposal p

FAQs

What was the study’s main purpose?

To assess medication disposal knowledge, policy awareness and satisfaction, and medication adherence among chronic disease patients, and to examine differences across demographic and clinical subgroups.

How were medication disposal knowledge and medication adherence measured?

A cross-sectional questionnaire survey collected data on disposal knowledge, adherence, disposal policy clarity, satisfaction with promotional strategies, and socio-demographics, with t-tests and Pearson correlations used for analyses.

Which patient factors were associated with better medication disposal knowledge and adherence?

Younger age and higher education were linked to better disposal knowledge. Medication adherence was higher among patients over 65, those with lower education, those living alone, and those taking five or more medications.

Sep 29, 2026

Uploaded by Valentina