Práticas de descarte de medicamentos domiciliares em uma farmácia pública

Introduction: The disposal of medicines is considered a public health concern, since it can cause damage to human health and to the environment if they have the same destination as common waste. Objectives: To evaluate the practice of drug disposal by users of a Municipal Public Pharmacy (MPP). Methods: This is a cross-sectional, descriptive study conducted in the Municipal Public Pharmacy of Espírito Santo, Brazil. Interviews were conducted with MPP users and sociodemographic information was collected, as well as information on self-medication, analysis of the expiration date and how it is disposed of at home, and on knowledge of the destination of medications. Results: A total of 232 users were interviewed between november and december 2020, 79.74% reported not knowing how to dispose of medications. It was also observed that 36.21% of the interviewees dispose of expired or unused medicines in the common garbage, 20.26% kept them even if they were unfit for use, 15.52% delivered them to Basic Health Uni or to the Municipal Pharmacy. Conclusion: The knowledge of the interviewed population about the disposal of medicines is low, which raises concerns about the irrational use of medicines, household stocks in home pharmacies and the destination that is given by the population with these medicines. Thus, effective strategies should be implemented for guidance on the appropriate use of medications, as well as the appropriate destination.