Prescription Of Generic Medicines Research Articles

Influence of Medical Practitioners’ Attitude on the Prescription Behaviour for Generic Medicines

The study is an attempt to find out vital areas related to doctors’ attitude towards generic medicines limiting its mass use. Attitude of medical practitioners, one factor amongst several, was chosen to evaluate doctors’ behaviour towards generic medicines. Most of the countries in the world, rich or poor, are taking more interest in generic medicines due to rising healthcare costs. In India, out of pocket expenses towards healthcare costs are one of the highest in the world besides affordability issue due to its demographics. Generic medicines offer as an alternative to expensive medicines. Government is promoting use of generic medicines; doctors are being advised to write prescription in generic names; however, there are several challenges in its mass use. The study is of national importance as it addresses the issue of low generic prescriptions despite unaffordable access to expensive branded medicines. A questionnaire constructed descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted in North India in 2020 amongst 228 medical practitioners at primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare centres. Spearman’s rank correlation computed to assess the association between attitude and prescription of generic medicines was found to be positively correlated between the two variables indicating a significant moderate association between them. Attitude of doctors towards generic medicines has been found to be playing a significant role in influencing doctors in prescribing generic medicines which explains limited use of generic drugs.

Perception of Doctors towards the Quality of Generic Medicines with Respect to Safety Index of Drugs and its Impact on Prescription of Generic Medicines

Perception of Doctors towards the Quality of Generic Medicines with Respect to Safety Index of Drugs and its Impact on Prescription of Generic Medicines

Knowledge, attitude, and perception regarding generic medicine prescription among dental and medical professionals – A systematic review

Knowledge, attitude, and perception regarding generic medicine prescription among dental and medical professionals – A systematic review

Evaluation of the knowledge and perception of the Lebanese physicians toward generics and barriers to their prescription: A cross-sectional survey

Generic substitutions practice is increasingly encouraged by health authorities. The use of cheaper generic drugs is often promoted as a measure to reduce the health care expenditure on pharmaceutical products, and save money to patients as well as governments. The current study aimed to explore the knowledge, perception, and attitude of physicians toward generic medicines in Lebanon and potential barriers to generic use and finally their confidence in the Lebanese pharmacist in the whole healthcare sector. A random sample of 385 physicians was recruited from different regions across Lebanon either by visiting their private clinics or in different hospitals. Among the respondents, 115 (29.9%) reported that they prefer to prescribe generic medicines over the innovator product and 258 (68.3%) reported that a generic medicine has the same therapeutic effect as the brand medicine. However, 181 (47.9%) respondents reported that a generic medicine should have the same active ingredient as the branded medicine and 357 (94.4%) reported that they do not have same excipients. When asked about their trust in the pharmacist in the health care system, almost 229 (59.5%) of respondents reported distrust. The majority of the physicians who participated in this survey indicated a low generic medicine prescription rate. They preferred to use and prescribe brand medicines. This phenomenon was observed in all of the age groups and was independent of their year, their place of graduation and experience but directly depends on the type of certificate.

Hurdles in mandatory generic medicine prescription

Coronavirus pandemic has brought forth the urgency of providing affordable health care to everyone. Generic medicines are often one-fourth to one-tenth of the cost of the branded drugs, and so offer a remarkable opportunity to significantly lower the health-care expenditure. However, the argument for promoting generic medicines is indisputable, we have to think about the other enabling conditions which are necessary for a successful health policy on encouraging generics without causing unintended adverse repercussions. This paper attempts to answer such questions by considering the motivations of the various stakeholders of the broader health services ecosystem in India and undertaking a systematic analysis of the winners and losers from such a policy. We argue that generic prescription will not be successful without prior improvement in the state capacity for quality control of drug manufacturing; rise in awareness among the doctors, patients, and pharmacists; improved trust in the medical systems; and innovative demand-side interventions.

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

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.

Assessment of knowledge, attitude and practice of generic medicines among the interns and post graduate dental students: comparison with medical practitioners

Background: India is one of the highest per capita out-of-pocket health expenditures (62%) country and use of generics can save a lot of money which can be used for other health issues. Lack of knowledge about cost effectiveness of generic medicines among the health-care professionals had led to a low rate of generic medicine prescription. The objective of this study was to explore the knowledge, attitude and practice of dental students towards the generic medicines.Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out using questions from pretested and validated questionnaire which are applicable to Indian scenario. A 22 items questionnaire were distributed to the participants to assess their knowledge, attitude and practice of generic medicine. All the Interns and MDS students were included in this study. The collected data was analyzed using microsoft excel.Results: 63.4% participants agreed generics can be interchanged with a branded drug. 89.74% participants were aware that bioequivalence studies are conducted by generic manufacturers for all the marketed generic medicines. Mostly participants (78.04%) were of opinion that generic medicines do not produce greater side effects than branded drugs. 54.05% participants reported that they were prescribing generic medicines. 52.38% participants were aware that generic medicine contains the same active substances as that innovator and used at same dose to treat same disease.Conclusions: In our study, we found that the prescribers had a considerable knowledge regarding the concept of generic medicines. However, to further increase the rate of generic medicine prescription training programs on generic medicines should be organized.

Study of knowledge, attitude, and practice of prescribing generic medicines by healthcare providers in tertiary care teaching hospital-BRIMS, Bidar

Introduction: Medicines play an important role in decreasing morbidity and mortality. But due to high cost factor achievement of good healthcare at door step has become impossible. Generic medicines are cost effective without compromising the quality. Aims and Objectives: To evaluate knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of generic medicines among the prescribers in a tertiary care teaching hospital -BRIMS, Bidar. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional, observational, and questionnaire-based study. A 14-item multiple choice questionnaires were distributed to the participants to assess their KAP regarding generic medicine. Results: About 61.22% participants agreed that generic medicines differ from their innovator brand name drug in nature of excipients. 81.63% interns agreed that cost of generic medicines is lesser than the innovator brand name drugs. 81.63% interns agreed there should be a training program to increase the awareness regarding generic medicines among doctors. 31.61% interns stated that generic medicines can be switched over to the brand name drugs and vice versa. About 87.75% interns were ready to encourage patients to use generic medicines. Conclusion: In the present study, we found that interns had good knowledge about generic medicines and Jan Aushadhi Yojana. Educational programmes like training, seminars, Continues Medical Education (CME) can increase the significance of generic medicine prescription. Keywords: Knowledge, Attitude and Practice, Generic Medicines.

Evaluating patients', physicians' and pharmacy professionals' perception and concern regarding generic medicines in Gondar town, northwest Ethiopia: A multi-stakeholder, cross-sectional survey.

BackgroundGeneric medicine prescribing has become common practice in many countries. However, data regarding the perceptions of stakeholders (patients, prescribers and dispensers) regarding generic medicines in Ethiopia is scarce. The present survey aimed to investigate the perception of patients, physicians and pharmacy professionals regarding generic medicines in Ethiopia.MethodsA quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted in Gondar town, Northwest Ethiopia between January 1 and February 1, 2017. The questionnaire, comprised of 5-point Likert scale items on perception and concerns regarding generic medicine, was administered to patients, physicians and pharmacy professionals working in the community drug retail outlets. Frequencies, percentages, and median were calculated using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 21.0 for Windows to describe different variables.ResultsThe survey was completed by 612 participants. More than half of patients, 56% (n = 219) knew about the term brand and generic medicines and 38.7% (n = 151) of patients agreed/strongly agreed that brand medicines are more effective. Nearly half, 47% (n = 184) of patients agreed that they should have the option of choosing between generic and brand medicines and 61.4% (n = 240) of patients believed that cost should be considered before a medicineis prescribed. The majority of physicians 70.6% (n = 101) indicated a very low generic medicine prescription rate. 56% (n = 130) of physicians and 87.2% (n = 68) of pharmacy professionals agreed that they need a standard guideline to both prescribers and pharmacists on brand substitution process. Furthermore, 39.9% (n = 57) of the physicians and 87.2% (n = 68) of pharmacy professionals agreed that drug advertisements by the manufacturers would influence their prescribing/dispensing practice.ConclusionsOverall, our findings demonstrate a knowledge gap among patients towards the perception of generics, perceiving generics are less effective and inferior in quality compared to their branded equivalents. The majority of physicians reported a very low generic medicine prescribing rate and the majority pharmacy professionals’ dispensing practice was influenced by drug advertisements. Hence, a customized educational program should be developed and implemented to patients, prescribers and dispensers so as to boost the acceptability of generic medicines and increase generic prescribing and/or substitution.

Study of knowledge, attitude, and practice of prescribing generic medicines by interns, residents, and faculty in a tertiary care teaching hospital

Background: Prescription of generic drugs can reduce costs without reducing quality. Lack of knowledge about the cost-effectiveness of generic medicines among the health-care professionals had led to a low rate of generic medicine prescription. Aims and Objectives: The primary objective of this study is to explore knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of generic medicines among the prescribers in a tertiary care teaching hospital of Solapur, India. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional, observational, and questionnaire-based study. A 19-item multiple choice questionnaires were distributed to the participants to assess their KAP regarding generic medicine. Result: Around 42.86% of the participants knew that generic medicines are bioequivalent to their innovator brand name drugs and can be interchanged with their brand name innovator drugs whenever required. 155 (71.58%) participants stated that they would like to encourage the patient for using generic medicines. Conclusion: In our study, we found that the prescribers had a fair knowledge regarding the concept of generic medicines. However, to further increase the rate of generic medicine prescription training programs on generic medicines, continuing medical educations, workshops, etc., should be organized.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Resident Doctors for use of Generic Medicines at a Tertiary care Hospital

: Objective: To assess knowledge, attitude and practice of resident doctors regarding generic medicines at a tertiary care teaching hospital. Method: This cross sectional study was conducted in 296 resident doctors of a tertiary care teaching hospital using a prevalidated questionnaire, consisting questions of knowledge(17), attitude(8) and practice(10). Data were analyzed for frequency and percentage analysis. Results: A total of 242(81.76%) resident doctors responded to questionnaire. Respondents were aware of the terms generic medicines(100%), branded generic (173,71.4%) and brand medicines (216, 89.2%) and regulations regarding prescription of generic medicines in the hospital(178,73.5%). Majority of participants responded equivocally to: whether generic medicines are cheaper (154, 63.6%) and equally efficacious (166,68.5%) as brand medicines; are easily available(125,51.6%) and switching from brand to generic medicines affects the outcome(192,79.3%). Majority of respondents believed that generic medicines cost less because of inferior quality (174,71.9%), have doubtful efficacy in serious diseases(108,44.6%), can be prescribed in all diseases(150, 61.9%) and prescription of generic medicines should be compulsory (37%). Regulations by government (186, 76.8%), education of medical students (187,77.2%) and incentives to doctors(149,61.5%) were suggested to improve generic prescribing. All the respondents prescribed generic medicines, consisting of 68.9% of total prescription medicines. Concerns about efficacy (242,100%), safety (149,61.5%) and availability(140,57.8%) were the major reasons cited for preferring brand medicines. Fifty percent respondents disagreed on substitution of a brand with a generic medicine by pharmacists. Conclusion: Resident doctors have good awareness about generic medicines and prescription regulations and commonly prescribes these medicines. Concerns about efficacy safety and availability of generic medicines are major reasons for preferring brand medicines.Key words: Generic medicines, Knowledge, Attitude, Practice, Resident doctors.

Perceptions and patterns of use of generic drugs among Italian Family Pediatricians: First round results of a web survey

Prescription of generic medicines represents an efficacious healthcare cost containment strategy. In some European countries and in the US, generic medicines are largely prescribed. In Italy, generic drugs prescription rate is lower. General Practitioners and Family Pediatricians may be less confident in prescribing generic equivalents instead of “branded” medicines. There are currently no data about Italian Family Pediatricians’ perceptions and patterns of use of generic drugs. This is a first nationwide web survey conducted with the aim to evaluate generic medicines knowledge and prescribing habits of Italian Family Pediatricians. 303 Family Pediatricians completed the online questionnaire. 37.2% and 32.6% of them declared to have a sufficient or fairly good knowledge of generic medicines, respectively, and the majority of them believed that efficacy of generic medicines was sufficient (33.6%) or good (45.2%). Nevertheless, Italian Family Pediatricians are still prone to prescribe trade medicines more frequently, since only 13.5% of them declared that more than a half of their patients were treated with generic medicines. Major issues related with generic medicines prescriptions by Italian Family Pediatricians seem to be represented by diffuse scepticism about reliability of bioequivalence tests and safety of switchability from branded to generic equivalents. More information about generic drugs and more research in the field of pediatric pharmacology are needed for increasing generic medicines prescription rate among Italian Family Pediatricians.

People’s views on the level of agreement of generic medicines for different illnesses

The present study aims to investigate (1) what is the influence of illness labels (flu, asthma and angina pectoris) upon the level of agreement with the prescription of generic medicines, and (2) the influence of socio-demographic factors on lay beliefs about generic medicines, in general, and for different illness labels. This was a cross-sectional design in which the participants were Portuguese, men and women, aged over 18 years old, and recruited from the general population (non-patients). The participants completed an anonymous self-administered questionnaire which included measures of lay beliefs about generic medicines in general (GMS), level of agreement with the prescription of a generic medicines for different illnesses, and socio-demographic factors. Level of agreement with the use of generic medicines for flu, asthma and angina pectoris. Results Participants seemed to have well-defined beliefs about generics concerning their efficacy and similarity with brand medicines. Beliefs about the efficacy of generic medicines were significantly different according to the three age groups (18-25 years, mean = 3.84 (0.56); 26-37 years, mean = 3.80 (0.61); >38 years, mean = 3.72 (0.66); F = 4.4; P = 0.01), and level of education attained (9 years, mean = 3.60 (0.69); 12 years, mean = 3.78 (0.57); graduate, mean = 3.93 (0.54); F = 32.2; P = 0.000). Although participants have a moderate level of agreement with the prescription of generic medicines for the three different illnesses, their agreement significantly decreased when the illness was perceived as more serious. The lay beliefs about generics seemed to moderate the level of agreement with the prescription of a generic medicine. Lay beliefs about generic medicines may influence the level of agreement with the prescription of a generic medicine in a general population sample. These results raise important questions concerning the need to consider illness perceptions of lay people and their relationship with perceptions of treatment for different conditions.

¿Mejoramos los médicos de atención primaria la prescripción de medicamentos genéricos tras la intervención del farmacéutico del área?

To evaluate the prescription of generic medicines by the primary care doctors in a health district after an intervention programme conducted by the area pharmacist. Intervention study. Two indicators were selected as indicators of pharmaceutical prescription of generics. Primary care. District 8 of Area 3, Valencian Community, Spain. Eleven family doctors and 2 paediatricians. a) Information session in the health centre given by the area pharmacist; b) delivery of the catalogue of generic medicines; c) delivery of the control panel to every physician; and d) possibility of connection to the GAIA system. A before-and-after evaluation was made (at 6 months and 12 months from the intervention) of every doctor. Values were compared with the 2 indicators of pharmaceutical prescription. Before the intervention, no doctor was fulfilling the Indicators of pharmaceutical prescription 1 and 2. At 6 months, all the doctors had increased their prescription of generics. Seven doctors met the objective of Indicator 1; and 8, that of indicator 2. At 12 months the increase remained and even grew. The prescription of generics measured with indicators of pharmaceutical prescription 1 and 2 improved.