Home disposal of used syringes and needles by the diabetic patients registered at Rwanda Diabetes Association

Studies have shown that there are a substantial number of insulin syringes and needles used at
homes by the patients living with diabetes. The number of these sharp materials increases over
time as the population living with diabetes enrolled on insulin is growing. This has become a
public issue and the current research indicates the growing need to address this problem by the
stakeholders involved in diabetes care. In similar settings, like Ethiopia and Pakistan, studies
have shown that the majority of diabetics on insulin disposed the used sharp materials in
traditional toilets, streets, household garbage or backwoods. In Rwanda, no similar study has
been done and the legislation is not clear about how and where the used sharp materials have
to be handled. This study aims at quantifying the magnitude of this problem in Rwanda,
identifying the root causes and propose a solution.
We used a cross-sectional study design with an open-ended questionnaire for the participants
recruited from Rwanda Diabetes Association (RDA) and Ruhengeri hospital. The sample was
conveniently selected. For a period of two months, the first one at RDA and the second at
Ruhengeri Hospital, a nurse administered the questionnaire to the patients who walked in the
clinic and who regularly used insulin syringes and needles. The information from the
questionnaire was recorded in excel and analyzed later using SPSS with P-value set at 0.05
The findings of this study presented in the fourth chapter have been deduced from 201 study
participants; 163 were from RDA and 38 from Ruhengeri hospital. 132 (65.7) improperly
disposed of needles and syringes. This is slightly lower than other low and middle-income
countries where this kind of study was conducted, the number of diabetics on insulin who Page 6 of 61
disposed the used sharp materials in traditional toilettes and normal garbage were 96 (47.76%)
and 27 (13.43%) respectively. The data analysis found an association of proper disposal practice
of used sharp disposal with the participants’ point of care, patients’ education by a nurse or
doctors, as well as the challenges faced in disposing the syringes and needles used at homes of
the study participants. In addition, these study results also helped to understand one of the
root causes of improper disposal practices of the patients on insulin in Rwanda. These are
mainly the lack of education about the proper syringe and needle disposal and lack of the
appropriate container.