Knowledge and attitude of MBBS undergraduate students for use of generic medicines at a tertiary care hospital

Abstract

Introduction: The cost incurred on medicine is one of the major concerning components of health expenditure. Prescription of generic drugs, can reduce the costs without reducing the quality of treatment. Hence this study is being taken to explore knowledge and attitude of MBBS undergraduate students for use of generic medicine, who are the future prescriber of generic medicines. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire based cross-sectional, observational study was carried out in II, III and final year MBBS students of Dr. V.M. Govt. Medical College Sholapur, from 1stMarch 2018 to 31st May 2018. A 20 item multiple choice questionnaire consisting of knowledge (10) and attitude (10) was distributed to the participants. Result: 45.62% agreed that generic medicines are usually intended to be interchangeable with the innovator drugs. Among the participants, 73.73% were aware that generic drug manufacturers need to conduct studies to show bioequivalence between the generic medicine and their branded counterparts. Majority of the participants (66.36%) were of the view that generic medicines were as safe as that of branded drugs. 93.55% of the participants agreed that importance of generic medicines should be taught in early part of the MBBS period. Conclusion: The present study showed that participants had good amount of knowledge and positive attitude regarding generic medicines. In order to provide safe and effective treatment to the community and decrease the cost of healthcare delivery system, the number of generic medicine prescription should be increased. Hence, workshops and CME on generic medicines should be organized and more time should be dedicated to generic medicine lectures during the MBBS period. Keywords: Generic medicines, MBBS students, Knowledge, Attitude.