Research Article
Increasing Awareness of Proper Disposal of Unused and Expired
Medication Using a Knowledge-Based Disposal
Management System
Deemah Alshehri
1
and Haneen Banjar
2,3
1
King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity (Mawhiba), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
2
Computer Science Department, Faculty of Computing and Information Technology, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah,
Saudi Arabia
3
Centre of Artificial Intelligence, Precision Medicines, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Correspondence should be addressed to Haneen Banjar; hrbanjar@kau.edu.sa
Received 21 December 2021; Accepted 8 February 2022; Published 28 February 2022
Academic Editor: Issam A. Al-Khatib
Copyright © 2022 Deemah Alshehri and Haneen Banjar. is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons
Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is
properly cited.
Medicines are used daily in Saudi Arabian homes. However, when these medicines are no longer needed, most people dispose of
them incorrectly, forgetting the harmful impact of improper disposal. Inadequate awareness and knowledge are major reasons for
improper disposal. In this study, we create a broad inclusive knowledge base that includes many types of medications available in
Saudi homes and provides guidance on how to dispose of them as a means of raising awareness on correct disposal methods and
preventing harmful impacts on both the environment and society. e study primarily aims to understand societal behaviour
regarding the disposal of unused and expired medications and develop a prototype of a knowledge-based system that helps raise
awareness of correct disposal methods for unused and expired medications. e data in the knowledge base are presented in tables
that are easy to understand and comprehend, and the recommendations are also easy to apply and practice in everyday life. e
results from the survey show that 66.8% of the 310 participants had unneeded medications in their homes, and only 14.9% knew
how to dispose of unusable medications, while only 6.5% knew how to dispose of expired medications. Overall, the research
studied Saudi society’s behaviour regarding unused and expired medications, and we created a prototype of a knowledge-based
system designed to increase awareness of proper disposal and management of unused and expired medications.
1. Introduction
Medications are chemical substances introduced into the
body to cure a disease or pathological condition, relieve
the symptoms of a specific illness, or simply to prevent
disease [1]. Although medications play a considerable role
in our daily lives, advancements in the medical field have
contributed significantly to a remarkable increase in drug
waste. is is attributable to the growing number of pa-
tients and overprescription by health care providers. e
ensuing drug and medication waste has resulted in bio-
logical maladies and ethical challenges, and it has a
negative impact on the environment [2, 3]. It is important
to raise awareness about how to dispose of expired
medications correctly and what to do with unused
medications.
Most homes in Saudi Arabia have medicine cabinets filled
with medicines, some of which have expired, and others that
are not needed. Furthermore, most people dispose of med-
ications incorrectly. For example, some people pour liquid
medicines into toilets or bathtubs, which could cause pol-
lution to our environment, especially by poisoning the wa-
terways, which harms marine life, negatively affects humans
and animals, and may spawn new diseases with a potentially
dire impact on Saudi Arabian society [4]. ere are also
people who dispose of drugs by throwing them in the trash
(e.g., garbage cans), which also increases the hazard potential
of these chemicals when they are exposed to the sun or eaten
Hindawi
Journal of Environmental and Public Health
Volume 2022, Article ID 1797440, 10 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/1797440