Knowledge, Attitude And Practices Of Healthcare Professionals And Public Towards Medical Packaging Waste Management In Singapore

• By: ONG, Pei-Shi (Singapore)
• Co-author(s): Dr Pei-Shi Ong (Department of Pharmacy, National University of Singapore, Singapore , Singapore)
  Ms Deborah M Chia (Department of Pharmacy, National University Hospital, Singapore , Singapore )
  Ms Michelle M Lee (Department of Pharmacy, National University of Singapore, Singapore , Singapore)
  Ms Hai-Jie Ou (Department of Pharmacy, National University of Singapore, Singapore , Singapore)
  
• Abstract:

  Background information: Healthcare contributed to 5% of global carbon footprint in 2017 in the form of medical waste. Medical waste can be classified into hazardous and non-hazardous waste. The former includes infectious, radioactive waste and sharps while the latter includes paper cartons and packaging materials. Non-hazardous medical waste in turn accounts for 85% of total global medical waste generation. Proper medical waste management is necessary to reduce environmental harm, including pollution and climate change. In Singapore, only hazardous medical waste is disposed of through rigorous waste disposal protocols while there is no specific recommendation for disposal of non-hazardous medical waste. Non-hazardous medical waste is thus disposed of as general waste currently. At present, there is no information on the knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) of healthcare professionals (HCPs) and public towards non-hazardous medical waste management, in particular medical packaging waste management (MPWM) in Singapore. Since these medical packaging waste contributes to significant global footprint, an understanding of this can aid in facilitating strategy for better MPWM and help Singapore move towards a zero-waste nation.
  Purpose: This study aims to investigate the knowledge, attitude and practices of HCPs and public towards MPWM in Singapore.
  Method: HCPs and public were surveyed using two separate anonymous surveys respectively. Each survey comprised a knowledge, attitude, and practices section towards MPWM. The questions on knowledge and attitude were similar for both surveys. For the practices section, the questions were different between the two surveys with that for the HCP survey tailored to MPWM in healthcare institutions. The data were evaluated, classified, and submitted to descriptive analysis.
  Results: A total of 613 participants completed this study. Among them, 213 (34.7%) were HCPs and 400 (65.3%) were from the public. Majority of the HCPs were female (85.4%), with pharmacists forming majority of HCPs surveyed (42.3%), followed by nurses (32.9%), pharmacy technicians (20.2%) and doctors (4.7%). For the public, 65.8% were female with 69.5% taking long-term medications and 30.5% not taking long-term medications. Both the HCPs and the public had a median knowledge score of 1.00 (IQR: 1.00-1.00) out of a maximum score of 3. The median attitude scores of HCPs and public were 9.00 (IQR: 8.00-10.00) and 10.00 (IQR: 9.00-12.00) out of a maximum score of 12 respectively, indicating positive attitude towards MPWM. For the HCPs and public, 56.2% and 54.3% reported disposing medical packaging waste into general waste bins respectively. Common barriers identified by both HCPs and public towards recycling of medical packaging waste include lack of recycling collection points, inaccessibility to recycling collection points and inadequate knowledge towards MPWM. Nonetheless, 94.1% of HCPs and 98.5% of public expressed willingness to recycle medical packaging waste.
  Conclusion: HCPs and public in Singapore showed positive attitude and willingness to recycle medical packaging waste. This can be facilitated by increasing their knowledge of MPWM with various campaigns and education materials as well as by increasing number of recycling collection points