Table 3 Reasons for having unused medicines
From: Disposal practice and factors associated with unused medicines in Malaysia: a cross-sectional study
Chronic illnesses n (%) | Acute illness n (%) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Did not take according to the prescription/forgot | 570 | (68.5) | 69 | (5.8) |
The doctor has changed the prescription or dosage | 128 | (15.4) | 5 | (0.4) |
Did not need all that was prescribed/too many | 52 | (6.3) | 128 | (10.8) |
Had a bad reaction or side effect | 21 | (2.5) | 13 | (1.1) |
Illness condition improved | 22 | (2.6) | 943 | (79.2) |
Medicine has expired | 9 | (1.1) | 24 | (2.0) |
Patient deceased | 6 | (0.7) | 0 | (0.0) |
Getting supply from multiple centres | 5 | (0.6) | 2 | (0.2) |
Other reasons | 19 | (2.3) | 6 | (0.5) |