Prevalence and Determinants of Household Medication Storage During the COVID-19 Outbreak in Southwest Ethiopia

Figures & data

Table 1 Sociodemographic Characteristics of the Respondents and Households in Southwest Ethiopia, 2022, (n=367)

Variables		Frequency	Percentage (%)
Category of age (years)	18–29	155	42
	30–39	106	29
	40–49	63	17
	50–59	30	8
	≥60	13	4
Sex	Male	228	62
	Female	139	38
Religion	Orthodox	118	32
	Islam	73	20
	Protestant	173	47
	Catholic	2	1
	Other	1	0
Marital status	Single	125	34
	Married	227	62
	Divorced	15	4
Level of education	Illiterate	212	69
	Literate	115	31
Number of family members	≤5	144	39.2
	>5	223	60.8
Category of HH monthly income (ETB)	<1500	108	29.4
	1500−5000	185	50.4
	>5000	74	20.2

Abbreviations: HH, households; ETB, Ethiopian birr.

Table 2 Medical and Health Status of Household Members in Southwest Ethiopia, 2022, (n=367)

Health Status of Households	Response	Frequency	Percentage (%)
Do you have any chronic patient(s) in your home?	Yes	56	15%
	No	311	85%
Is there any family member who got sick in the last 3 months?	Yes	192	52%
	No	175	48%
If yes, what is the disease condition?	Acute illness	136	70.8%
	Chronic disease	47	24.5%
	Both	9	4.7%
If chronic disease, which type(s)?	Hypertension	18	32%
	Diabetes mellitus	14	25%
	CVD	4	7%
	Bronchial asthma	14	25%
	Epilepsy	6	11%

Table 3 Information on Medications Stored in the Households, Southwest Ethiopia, 2022, (n=176)

Information on Medications Kept		Response	Frequency (%)
If yes, where did you get the medicine?		Family, friend	12(6.8)
		Public hospital	89(50.6)
		Private pharmacy	75(42.6)
Where do you store your medicine?		Bedroom	33(18.75)
		Box	47(26.7)
		On shelf	65(36.9)
		Refrigerator	10(5.68)
		Cupboard	17(9.69)
		Other places	4(2.27)
Why do you store the medicines?		Current treatment	56(31.8)
		Left from past treatment	59(33.5)
		Anticipate future need	61(34.7)
Number of types of medicines per household		1	67(38.1)
		2	72(40.9)
		3	25(14.2)
		≥4	12(6.8)
Storage conditions of the medicines?		Appropriately stored	43(24.4)
		Inappropriately stored	133(75.6)
Storage conditions of the inappropriately stored medicines		Directly exposed to sunlight	23(12.2)
		Contaminated with dust	49(25.9)
		Within reach of children	117(61.9)
Dosage form of the drugs		Tablet	183(73)
		Capsule	28(11.1)
		Semisolid	8(3.2)
		Liquid (oral)	22(8.7)
		Injections	6(2.4)
Situation of the primary package		Intact (OK)	228(90.8)
		Damaged (not OK)	23(9.2)
Labeling		Adequately labeled	94(37.5)
		Not adequately labeled	157(62.5)
Situation of the expiry date		Expired	27(10.8)
		Not expired	213(84.8)
		Unknown	11(4.4)

Figure 1 Types of medication stored in the households of southwest Ethiopia, 2022.

Figure 2 Planned methods of disposing unused or expired medications.

Figure 3 Sources of information on how to dispose of medications.

Table 4 Factors Associated with Medication Hoarding at Household Level in Southwest Ethiopia, 2022

Variables		HH Stored Medication, N (%)	HH Not Stored Medication, N (%)	COR (95% CI)	AOR (95% CI)
Education	Illiterate	128(60.4)	84(39.6)	1	1
	Literate	48(41.7)	67(58.3)	0.75(0.37–1.51)	0.68(0.31–1.43)
Family member	≤5	55(38.2)	89(61.8)	1	1
	>5	121(54.3)	102(44.7)	1.94(1.17–3.22)	1.89(1.08–3.10)
Monthly income (ETB)	<1500	48(44.4)	60(55.6)	1	1
	1500–5000	86(46.5)	99(53.5)	0.85(0.53–1.37)	0.71(0.41–1.55)
	>5000	42(56.8)	32(43.2)	1.6(1.00–2.89)	1.34(0.33–5.48)
Children <5 years	Yes	62(57)	47(43)	1	1
	No	114(44)	144(56)	1.66(1.06–2.61)	1.90(1.19–3.05)*
Elder >65 years	Yes	29(16)	19(10)	1	1
	No	147(84)	172(90)	1.78(0.96–3.31)	1.46(0.75–2.63)
Chronic patient	Yes	47(84)	9(14)	1	1
	No	129(41.5)	182(58.5)	4.28(2.29–7.98)*	4.3(2.25, 8.45)*
Health worker	Yes	35(68.6)	16(31.4)	1	1
	No	141(44.6)	175(55.4)	1.24(0.61–2.57)	1.132(0.73–3.61)

Note: *Indicates statistical significance at P<0.05.

Abbreviations: HH, households; COR, crude odds ratio; AOR, adjusted odds ratio.