The Open Waste Management Journal
2019, 12 : 1-5Published online 2019 December 31. DOI: 10.2174/1874347101912010001
Publisher ID: TOWMJ-12-1
CASE REPORT
Estimation of Infectious Medical Waste Quantities on a Per-patient Basis: An Observational Study at a Hospital
*Address correspondence to this author at the Department of Public Health, Kindai University Hospital, Center for Medical Education and Clinical training, Osaka, ;E-mail: yuyu@med.kindai.ac.jp
ABSTRACT
Introduction:
Infectious medical waste management in hospitals is very important. The potential impacts of infectious medical waste discharged from hospitals on populations and society are considered greater than those of general industrial waste. Therefore, the estimation of infectious medical waste discharged from healthcare facilities should be accurate. The present study reports the quantity of infectious medical waste discharged per ward per day per inpatient by weight.
Methods:
In medical wards, the digestive surgery ward discharged the most infectious medical waste. In addition, the digestive surgery ward had the highest quantity of infectious medical waste per day per inpatient. Infectious medical waste quantity estimates based on beds were lower than those based on inpatients, with minimum and maximum underestimates of 6% and 21%, respectively.
Results & Discussion:
Infectious medical waste discharged per patient per day was low in the outpatient department. The operating room and the emergency department discharged 10-fold more infectious medical waste than the wards. The operating room, the emergency department, and the clinical inspection department accounted for 60% of infectious medical waste discharged from hospitals.
Conclusion:
Notably, there are considerable differences among departments when evaluating hospital waste, particularly in hospitals with surgery and critical care departments, which is different in the case of evaluations based on bed counts.