Knowledge and Attitude of Pharmacists about Biosimilar Medications in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Objectives: This study determined knowledge and attitude of pharmacists about biosimilar mdications in Saudi Arabia. Methods: Pharmacists from different areas and regions were approached to participate in this cross-sectional study. Data were collected by a pre-validated and selfadministered research tool using a convenience sampling technique. Analyses and interpretation of the data were done using descriptive and inferential statistics with Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24.0. Results: A total of 319 pharmacists from different specialties participated in the study. A total of 111 pharmacists were males, and 208 were females. All of the pharmacists had varied expertise. Around 41.4% of the studied pharmacists were practicing in the community, 34.5% in hospitals and 24.1% were in other areas. Conclusion: This study reported the current level of pharmacists' knowledge and attitude about biosimilar medications in Saudi Arabia. Statistically, a significant association was observed between male and female pharmacists regarding the introduction of biosimilar medications in the Saudi Arabian healthcare setup.

Assessment of community pharmacists’ knowledge of the differences between generic drugs and biosimilars: A pilot cross-sectional study

“…Good knowledge was also found among pharmacists in Saudi Arabia, with a lower awareness of biosimilars’ quality and substitution characteristics. 26 As regards their prices, most pharmacists considered that only generic drugs are cheaper than reference drugs. Although Lebanese pharmacists engaged in continuing education programs, they reported higher preferences for day-to-day workplace experience, 27 which might not be true for biosimilars.…”

Robustness of Supersaturated Design to Study the Causes of Medical Errors

“…Recent research has assessed the formality of group pharmacists regarding biosimilar medications, which consist of 319 participants, and stated that from the total participants 39.5% illustrated a negative attitude [Anzan et al [6]]. Alahmari et al [7] suggested that, to minimize the number of medication errors, the health authorities in Norwegia require enhancement and wide range operating of eHealth systems to enable healthcare providers to obtain the exact and same pharmaceutical information, but for addressing the issue of medication errors there is obvious need for alteration of the workers' collaborations and working practices. Dyb and Warth [8] indicated that, in 2017, the World Health Organization (WHO) established the third Gaolable Patient Safety Challenge initiative "Medication Without Harm" to minimize preventable MEs globally by more than 50% by the coming 6 years.…”