(1278) Impact of a Drug Take Back Day Event at a Large Chain Community Pharmacy

Objectives: Drug Take Back Day is a critical public health initiative providing communities with the opportunity to safely dispose of their unused medications. Existing literature broadly covers medication disposal and Drug Take Back Day, but is limited to the role in controlled substance diversion, warranting a more comprehensive assessment of the impact of Drug Take Back Day. This study aims to (1) assess patient knowledge and attitudes on safe medication disposal and reasons for medication accumulation, (2) analyze the quantity and characteristics of medications collected, and (3) identify patient education and counseling opportunities during a drug take back day.

Methods: This cross-sectional, multi-site study will prospectively assess medication characteristics and donor perceptions using a convenience sample of people attending Drug Take Back Day events in the Greater Richmond region of Virginia. The events will be held simultaneously on Saturday, October 28, 2023 from 10 am until 2 pm at two different large chain pharmacy locations, one of which is an urban setting close to a university campus while the other is in a suburban shopping center.
Medications will be screened and collected for disposal following standards of practice. The number of donors will be recorded and donors will be offered to complete a voluntary, confidential 16-question survey. The survey will assess demographics, knowledge of drug disposal, opinions on Drug Take Back Day, and specific reasons for medication disposal and accumulation. The survey questions are a mix of Likert Scale, select all that apply, multiple choice and free response. The survey will be available to complete on site in electronic and paper formats and will also be accessible via QR code on donors’ personal electronic devices. Donors who opt to take the survey off-site on their personal devices will have until November 3, 2023 to complete it. Additionally, donors will be offered educational brochures and a QR code linked to an informational webpage about Drug Take Back Day. At the conclusion of the event, the number of remaining educational brochures and number of QR code scans per tracking analytics will be recorded. Per medication collected, characteristics including product name, strength, dosage form, route of administration, indication, length of treatment, condition, and prescription versus over-the-counter status will also be recorded onto an Excel spreadsheet. At the end of the event, the total collection of medications will be weighed and recorded. Following the event, the quantitative data on the Excel spreadsheet will be organized and the following information will be added: DEA drug schedule, price, specific drug class, and indication. All the data will be analyzed using univariate and/or multivariate statistics.

Results: In progress.

Conclusions: In progress.