Use of generic medicines by the Brazilian population: an evaluation of PNAUM 2014

Abstract

OBJECTIVE To analyze the existence of differences in the use of generic medicines in Brazil according to demographic and socioeconomic variables and acquisition sources of the medicines.METHODS Population-based cross-sectional study, conducted with data from the Pesquisa Nacional de Acesso, Utilização e Promoção do Uso Racional de Medicamentos (PNAUM – National Survey on Access, Use and Promotion of Rational Use of Medicines). Data collection took place between September, 2013 and February, 2014 in homes of Brazilian cities (urban area). The use of medicines has been investigated in relation to the treatment of chronic diseases and, in the case of acute events, regarding use over the previous 15 days. Generics were identified by visualization of packaging presented by the users of the medicines. The independent variables used were sex, age, education level, economic class, and region of the Country. The statistical significance of differences between the groups was evaluated by Pearson’s Chi-squared test, considering a 5% significance level.RESULTS The prevalence of generic medicines use was 45.5% (95%CI 43.7–47.3). There was no difference considering education level. The prevalence was higher in females (47.0%; 95%CI 44.9–49.0) than in males (43.1%; 95%CI 40.5–45.8), and were higher with increasing age. Generic medicines were more used in the economic class C (47.0%; 95%CI 44.9–49.1) and in the South (50.6%; 95%CI 46.6–54.6) and Southeast (49.9%; 95%CI 46.8–53.0) regions. Generics accounted for 37.3% of the medicines provided by the Brazilian Unified Health System.CONCLUSIONS Currently, there is a choice of purchase or free provision by the Brazilian Unified Health System, characterized by quality assurance and reduced price regarding branded medicines considered as reference. In the private market, a considerable part of the population is choosing generic medicines thanks to the availability of this option for virtually all medicines most used by the population.

Tendências de eventos toxicológicos relacionados a medicamentos atendidos por um Centro de Informações Toxicológicas

“…As regards the most common classes of drugs in the DRPs during the period of analysis (1985-2014), those that act on the central nervous system, the analgesic/anti-inflammatory/ immunosuppressive drugs and antibiotics were the most prominent. These data corroborate the National Survey on Access, Use and Promotion of the Rational Use of Medicines (PNAUM), which identified that drugs acting on the nervous system (with analgesics representing 40.8% of them) and on the musculoskeletal system (including inflammatory and antirheumatic drugs) are respectively used by 18.6 and 8.7% of the population surveyed 31 . The high consumption of analgesics, anti-inflammatories and antirheumatics, shown by PNAUM 31 , indicates that the public is exposed to a greater risk of DRPs by these therapeutic groups.…”

Perfil Dos Usuários E Dos Medicamentos Dispensados Na Farmácia Escola Da Uri Santo Ângelo

“…Por outro lado, no presente estudo realizado na Urifarma, localizada em Santo Ângelo a maioria dos entrevistados preferem medicamentos de referência, seguidos de similares. Esse fato está atribuído ao conhecimento da população em estudo, jovens Universitários, poder aquisitivo ou, ainda, diferença de preço atribuído aos similares em relação aos demais 7 .…”

Brazilian generics market change after Farmácia Popular program

“…All antihypertensive and oral antidiabetic medicines in FP have generic versions in the Brazilian market. A recent Brazilian survey on access and utilization of medicines showed that about 40% of all oral antidiabetic and antihypertensive medicines in Brazil are generics 6 . Comparing this finding with our results, generic utilization in FP is greater than the national average.…”

“…Unless explicitly stated in a prescription, all medicines can be substituted by their generic version 5 . Since then, the use of generics has been growing and a recent national household survey demonstrated that about half of the interviewees (45.5%) used at least one generic medicine in treating chronic diseases or a recent acute illness 6 .…”