Study design
Between 1stFebruary and 16thMarch 2022, we conducted an online, descriptive, cross-sectional study among undergraduate health professions students of MaKCHS.
Study area and setting
The study was conducted at MaKCHS. The college is the medical school of Makerere University and is the oldest medical school in Uganda and in East Africa. It is located at the Mulago hill, which is approximately 4 kilometers by road north of Kampala- the country’s capital city. The schools of the college offer undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the biomedical sciences, health sciences, human medicine, and public health, covering a broad range of disciplines and specialties. MaKCHS has about 2,000 undergraduate students pursuing various medical programs.
Target population
All undergraduate medical students from year one to year five, aged 18 years or older, pursuing any program at MAKCHS which include Bachelor of Medicine and bachelor of Surgery (MBChB), Bachelor of Pharmacy (BPHARM), Bachelor of Nursing (BSN), Bachelor of Cytotechnology (BCYT), Bachelor of Dental surgery (BDS), Bachelor of Medical Radiology (BMR), Bachelor of Environmental Health Science (BEHS), Bachelor of Speech and Language Therapy (BSLT), Bachelor of Biomedical Science (BSB), among others.
Sample size
The estimated sample size was calculated using the Epi info CDC Sample size calculator software for population survey studies. Using an estimated population size of 2000 students, at a confidence interval of 95%, expected frequency of 50% and a margin of error of 6%, the estimated sample size was 235 participants.
Study variables
Independent variables included sex, age, program of study, year of study and place of residence. Dependent variables included Knowledge, practices, and barriers regarding safe disposal of unused drugs among HPS.
Data collection tool
Data was collected using a pre-tested self-administered questionnaire adopted from previous studies done by Maharaj and colleagues (19) and was slightly modified by the investigators using the FDA guide on safe disposal of unused medicines to suit with our setting. It comprised of 4 sections as follows:
Section 1: Consisted of7 questions assessing for the participants’ demographic characteristics.
Section 2: Consisted of9 questions assessing for participants’ knowledge regarding safe disposal of unused medicine.
Section 3: Consisted of 7 questions assessing for participants’ practices regarding safe disposal of unused medicines.
Section 4: Consisted of 2 questions assessing for participants’ perceived barriers to safe disposal of unused medicines.
Data collection procedure
During the time of data collection, though Uganda was out of lock-down, the Standard Operating Procedures to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 disease were still highly emphasized by the Ministry of Health. Therefore, we used WhatsApp Messenger and email for enrolling the study participants. By employing convenience sampling, we identified all the existing WhatsApp groups and personal email addresses of HPS in Makerere University. An Enketo express tool box form link to the questionnaire was sent to the identified eligible participants via WhatsApp groups, personal in-boxing and emailing.
Quality assurance
The research assistants underwent an intensive training about the research topic, its procedures, techniques, communication skills and data collection. The data collection tool was first tested on ten undergraduate students from the college of Veterinary Medicine, Makerere University and all necessary corrections were made before administering the tool to the final study participants. Submitted data was subjected to data cleaning prior to data analysis to ensure that only complete questionnaires from eligible participants were considered. Entered data was checked properly for accuracy.
Data analysis plan
The data extracted from fully completed Enketo form questionnaires was entered in Microsoft Excel for cleaning and coding. It was then transferred to STATA (StataCorp) Version 15.1 for analysis and storage. Numerical data was summarized as means and standard deviations. Categorical data was summarized at proportions and frequencies. Blooms cut-off of 80% was used to determine whether a participant has good or poor knowledge and practices concerning safe disposal of unused medicine. Associations between independent and dependent variables were assessed using Chi-square and Fisher’s exact test. A p<0.05 was considered statistically significant.