Medical sharps in Portugal: a cross-sectional survey of disposal practices among the diabetic population.

Autor:	Corte-Real AL; Family Health Unit Joane, ACeS Ave-Famalicão, Joane, Famalicão, Portugal anabcortereal@gmail.com., Duarte LL; Family Health Unit Oceanos, ACeS Matosinhos, Matosinhos, Portugal., Teixeira AL; Family Health Unit O Basto, ACeS Alto Ave, Cabeceiras de Basto, Portugal., Cunha MV; Family Health Unit Ara de Trajano, ACeS Alto Ave, Caldas das Taipas, Guimarães, Portugal., Rebelo CC; Family Health Unit Oceanos, ACeS Matosinhos, Matosinhos, Portugal., Azevedo AC; Family Health Unit Famalicão I, ACeS Ave-Famalicão, Famalicão, Portugal., Pinto JM; Family Health Unit Joane, ACeS Ave-Famalicão, Joane, Famalicão, Portugal., Faria A; Family Health Unit Famalicão I, ACeS Ave-Famalicão, Famalicão, Portugal., Sacramento S; Family Health Unit Ara de Trajano, ACeS Alto Ave, Caldas das Taipas, Guimarães, Portugal., Machado F; Family Health Unit Ara de Trajano, ACeS Alto Ave, Caldas das Taipas, Guimarães, Portugal., Martinho-Dias D; Department of Community Medicine, Information and Health Decision Sciences (MEDCIDS), Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.; Family Health Unit Ao Encontro da Saúde, ACeS Santo Tirso Trofa, São Romão do Coronado, Trofa, Portugal.; Center for Research in Health Technologies and Information Systems (CINTESIS), Porto, Portugal., Taveira-Gomes T; Department of Community Medicine, Information and Health Decision Sciences (MEDCIDS), Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.; Center for Research in Health Technologies and Information Systems (CINTESIS), Porto, Portugal.; Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.; Faculty of Health Sciences, Fernando Pessoa University, Porto, Portugal.; IINFACTS, Institute of Research and Advanced Training in Health Sciences and Technologies, CESPU, Gandra, Portugal.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	BMJ open [BMJ Open] 2022 Sep 23; Vol. 12 (9), pp. e060262. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Sep 23.
DOI:	10.1136/bmjopen-2021-060262
Abstrakt:	Objective: We aim to determine the disposal site for biohazardous materials resulting from diabetes surveillance and therapy. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Five Portuguese primary care facilities. Participants: We randomly sampled diabetic patients representative of five primary care facilities. Inclusion criteria consisted in patients≥18 years old with an active diagnosis of diabetes mellitus (DM). Patients unable to provide written informed consent were excluded. Outcome Measure: Sociodemographic variables, diabetes duration, type of treatment, medical sharps disposal practices and whether adequate disposal information were provided. Results: A total of 1436 diabetics were included. Overall, 53.8% of diabetics conducted regular capillary glicemia measurements, although 45.3% of them had no medical indication. Statistically significant predictors of adequate disposal were not having an active professional status (p=0.011) and having a DM duration between 5 and 10 years (p=0.014). Only being professionally inactive remained an independent predictor after multivariate logistic regression. Less than a fifth of patients on injectable therapy report having been advised by healthcare staff regarding sharps disposal. Over a fifth of the latter report having received wrong advice. The majority of diabetics dispose of biohazardous materials in unsorted household waste (68.1% of needles/devices with needles and 71.6% of lancets). Other incorrect disposal sites identified were recycling bins, toilet and home accumulation. Only 19.1% of the needles/devices with needles and 13.1% of the lancets were disposed of at healthcare facilities. Conclusions: Most diabetics have unsafe disposal practices for their biohazardous materials, mostly in unsorted household waste. We identified that being unemployed independently predicts adequate disposal of medical sharps and found evidence of low patient literacy on the topic, as well as poor patient education. Therefore, educating and raising awareness among healthcare professionals is crucial to address this public health issue. Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared. (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)
Databáze:	MEDLINE
Externí odkaz:	Zobrazit plný text záznamu