Awareness among Pharmacy Students about Generic Medicines: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Introduction:</strong> A generic drug is a pharmaceutical product that is commonly used in place of branded medicine. Generic medications have the same therapeutic effect as their branded counterparts. The utilisation of generic drugs is critical for lowering rising health-care costs, and pharmacy students must have a thorough understanding of generic medications. <strong>Methodology:</strong> The present study was performed to assess the awareness about generic medicines among first-year and fourth-year bachelor of pharmacy students at a college in Coastal Karnataka, India. An awareness questionnaire was prepared and validated, and distributed to the students. Simple descriptive statistics were used to produce frequencies, percentages, and proportions. Microsoft Excel was used to analyze the data. During the study, 200 students were enrolled. 10 questions were asked out of that students&rsquo; answers were validated, and they showed comparatively good knowledge about generic medicines.<strong> Results:</strong> Out of 200 students, 181 students answered that Generic drugs are available in Jan-Aushadi, 183 students think that there is a price variation between generic drugs and branded drugs, 123 students approved that generic medicines are equivalent to branded drugs, 156 students have agreed that there is no difference in the effectiveness of generic drugs and branded drugs, 114 students not agreed that generic drugs have long duration of action than branded drugs, 87 students have the opinion that both branded and generic drugs are made in same manufacturing facilities.<strong> Conclusion:</strong> The study confirmed that fourth-year students had better awareness about generic drugs compared to first-year students. There was a significant gap concerning the knowledge about generic medicines. Studies among pharmacy students in the institution are required. More work is required on how interventions for pharmacy students and the community can result in an increase in the awareness and acceptability of generic medicines. Awareness gaps about the use of generic medicines exist, and they must be corrected through suitable education. Deficiencies were noted, and we have to strengthen learning about generic medicines during the coming years. <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Key words:</strong> Generic drugs, Jan-Aushadi, Branded drugs, Awareness, Effectiveness.