Dataset Information

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

ABSTRACT:

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.

SUBMITTER: Corte-Real AL

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9511587 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

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

Corte-Real Ana Luísa AL Duarte Leonor Luz LL Teixeira Ana Luísa AL Cunha Maria Vaz MV Rebelo Catarina Calheno CC Azevedo Ana Correia de AC Pinto João Mário JM Faria Andreia A Sacramento Sofia S Machado Filipa F Martinho-Dias Daniel D Taveira-Gomes Tiago T

BMJ open 20220923 9

<h4>Objective</h4>We aim to determine the disposal site for biohazardous materials resulting from diabetes surveillance and therapy.<h4>Design</h4>Cross-sectional study.<h4>Setting</h4>Five Portuguese primary care facilities.<h4>Participants</h4>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 exclu ...[more]

PMID: 36153023

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Dataset Information

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

Objective

Design

Setting

Participants

Outcome measure

Results

Conclusions

Publications

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

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