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Section 6: Education and research
6ER-022 Knowledge, attitude and practice about pharmaceuticals in the environment among hospital pharmacists in Spain
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  1. S Domingo-Echaburu1,
  2. A Zuriñe2,
  3. JF Rangel-Mayoral3,
  4. A Rojas-Albarrán3,
  5. G Orive4,5,
  6. U Lertxundi6
  1. 1Osakidetza Basque Health Service- Debagoiena Integrated Health Organisation, Pharmacy Service, Arrasate-Mondragón, Spain
  2. 2Bioaraba Health Research Institute, Bioaraba Health Research Institute, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
  3. 3Complejo Hospitalario Universitario De Badajoz Chub, Pharmacy Service, Badajoz, Spain
  4. 4Bioaraba Health Research Institute, Nanobiocel Research Group, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
  5. 5Nanobiocel Group- Laboratory of Pharmaceutics- School of Pharmacy, University of The Basque Country Upv/Ehu, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
  6. 6Bioaraba Health Research Institute- Osakidetza Basque Health Service- Araba Mental Health Network- Araba Psychiatric Hospital, Pharmacy Service, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain

Abstract

Background and Importance Healthcare professionals need to be more aware of the negative environmental impact of pharmaceuticals. Hospital pharmacists, in particular, play an essential role in the life cycle of drugs. Their contribution to tackle the problem is going to be pivotal. So far, scant information is available about the level of knowledge, attitude and practice about the issue among hospital pharmacists.

Aim and Objectives To evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practice about the issue of pharmaceuticals in the environment (PiE) among hospital pharmacists in Spain.

Material and Methods A self-administered on-line questionnaire (Microsoft Forms) consisting of 18 questions about knowledge, 10 about attitude, 2 about practice and 3 others was sent via e-mail to all members of the Spanish Society of Hospital Pharmacists (n=4451). The scale used for knowledge questions was variable. The attitude scale, previously validated, is an agreement scale (being 0 ‘totally disagree’ and 10 ‘totally agree’). Descriptive statistics were performed.

Results 149 hospital pharmacists (3.4%) answered the survey. (75.2% women, mean age 43.7 years). 92 professionals (61.7%) did not know the concept ‘emerging pollutants’, and 85 participants (57.0%), had not heard of ‘One Health’. Only 19 (12.7%) knew about the Environmental Risk Assessment reports of the European Medicines Agency, and the majority (n = 98; 66.2%) responded ‘do not to know/no answer’ to the question about the most famous ecotoxicological disaster in Asian vultures caused by veterinary diclofenac. 111 (74.5%) knew nothing about the destiny of their hospital wastewaters and 58 (38.9%) admitted to having doubts about pharmaceutical waste management in their setting. On the contrary, 130 (87.2%) correctly identified metered dose inhalers (MDIs) having a higher carbon footprint. Acquiring knowledge about drug pollution was considered very positive (mean score 8.61). Only 17 responders (11.4%) admitted to considering environmental aspects to develop hospital formularies.

Conclusion and Relevance This study shows that there is room for improvement in the knowledge about PiE among hospital pharmacists in Spain. There is a high level of knowledge about MDIs carbon footprint, and the attitude towards the issue is positive, but environmental criteria are not considered to develop hospital formularies.

Conflict of Interest No conflict of interest.

https://doi.org/10.1136/ejhpharm-2024-eahp.484

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