title: Impact of an educational program on knowledge and practice of health care staff toward pharmaceutical waste management in Gaza, Palestine.
abstract: In health care facilities, pharmaceutical waste is generally discharged down the drain or sent to landfill. Poor knowledge about their potential downstream impacts may be a primary factor for improper disposal behavior. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of an intervention program on knowledge and practice of health care staff regarding pharmaceutical waste management. The study was designed as a pre/posttest intervention study. Total sample size was 530 in the pre-intervention phase, and then a subsample of 69 individuals was selected for the intervention and the post-intervention phases. Paired-sample t test was used to assess the difference between pretest and follow-up test results. A statistically significant improvement in knowledge and practice was achieved (P<0.001). Poor knowledge and poor practice levels (scores<50%) were found to improve to satisfactory levels (scores≥75%). Therefore, educational programs could be considered as an effective tool for changing health care staff practice in pharmaceutical waste management.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In health care facilities, pharmaceutical waste is generally discharged down the drain or sent to landfill. A lack of knowledge about the potential impacts of this type of waste may be a leading factor in improper disposal behavior. Following an educational program, statistically significant improvement in knowledge and practice of health care staff as regards to pharmaceutical waste management (PWM) was achieved. It is thus recommended that authorities implement training-of-trainers (TOT) programs to educate health care staff on PWM and organize refreshment workshops regularly.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Environmental Health , High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University , Alexandria , Egypt.
authors.forename: Mohammed I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Tabash
authors.affiliation: a Department of Environmental Health , High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University , Alexandria , Egypt.
authors.forename: Rim A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Hussein
authors.affiliation: a Department of Environmental Health , High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University , Alexandria , Egypt.
authors.forename: Aleya H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Mahmoud
authors.affiliation: b Department of Health Administration and Behavioral Sciences , High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University , Alexandria , Egypt.
authors.forename: Mohamed D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: El-Borgy
authors.affiliation: c Department of Health Management, Faculty of Public Health , Al-Quds University , Gaza Campus , Palestine.
authors.forename: Bassam A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Abu-Hamad
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006256:Hazardous Waste; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008877:Middle East; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D018505:Waste Management
chemical_list: D006256:Hazardous Waste; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations