Perception of generic drugs among residents in a district of Peru

Abstract

Context: In the Peruvian context, generic drugs are those pharmaceutical products whose names correspond to the active ingredient of the drug and are not identified by a brand name; brand name drugs, on the other hand, are pharmaceutical products whose names are determined by the drug manufacturer. Aims: To know the perception of generic drugs by a Peruvian population. Methods: The type of research was applied, deductive method, non-experimental design, quantitative approach and cross-sectional. The sample consisted of 218 inhabitants, who were submitted to a questionnaire where the study variable was measured. Results: The main results showed that the level of information on generic drugs among the study sample was low (74,3%), as was consumption (66,5%), the level of confidence in these drugs was low (64,7%) and, finally, the inhabitants indicated that they had little access to generic drugs in their area (68,8%). Conclusions: The general perception of the study population towards generic drugs was low.