폐의약품 수거사업’을 통해 지역약국으로 회수된 처방전의약품의 성분 및 약가 분석

Analysis of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients and Drug Cost of Prescription Medications Returned to Community Pharmacies through ‘Drug-Take Back’ Program

Unused medication disposal is a burden due to the cost of disposing as well as the cost of the drugs. Inves- tigating medication returns is expected to suggest areas of intervention to reduce unused medications. Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine types, quantity, costs, active pharmaceutical ingredients, and therapeutic category of the med-ications returned to community pharmacies. Method: From January 15, 2014 to February 28, 2014, the medications returned to the 17 community pharmacies in Gimhae, Jinju, and Incheon, Korea were examined. The pharmacists and stu-dent volunteers worked cooperatively to identify the medications and analyze drug cost of prescription pill medications returned to the pharmacies. Results: A total of 2,720 pills of prescription medication were analyzed and 91 active phar-maceutical ingredients were identified. According to the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification, the most predominant group was A (alimentary tract and metabolism) with 33.3%, followed by N (nervous system) with 15.0%. With regard to the drug cost of groups, group A was the highest with 26.6%, followed by J01 (antibacterials for systemic use) with 20.2% and N (nervous system) with 18.3%. The total cost of the oral pill prescription medications was 468,477 won. Conclusion: The result from this study implies that unused drugs impose a significant cost to the health care system in Korea. In this study, medicines used to treat gastrointestinal conditions were returned most frequently with the highest drug cost. Further research in nationwide level is necessary to establish strategies to reduce the wastage of unused medicines.