Knowledge, attitude, and practice of generic medicines among physicians at multispecialty hospital

Abstract

Background: Nowadays, brand-name drugs are becoming an out-of-pocket expense which comprises 80% of total health-care expenditures. However, generic drugs are less expensive than brand-name drugs with the same therapeutic effect, but many doctors hold negative views of generics and resist prescribing. This study was designed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of doctors toward generic medicines. Methods: This was a questionnaire-based cross-sectional study conducted in a multispecialty private hospital. The study participants were doctors who were practising in a hospital during the study period (January 2017 to July 2017). The questionnaire comprises 35 questions related to demographics, knowledge, attitude, and practice evaluation of generic medicines. Descriptive statistics was applied to represent participant characteristics and response rates. Results: A total of 86 questionnaires were distributed to the doctors and the response rate was 37%. The majority of doctors who participated in this survey perceived that generic medicine is effective, safe, and has same active component, dose, and bioequivalent as the brand medicines. Majority of the doctors (72%) believe that generic drugs were manufactured by poor techniques. However, more than three-quarter of doctors (78%) routinely prescribed generic drugs. Conclusion: Most of the doctors had an honest angle about the efficacy and safety of generic medicine. However, a high proportion of physicians believe that the generic drugs are of poorer quality. To have a better understanding of the generic drug, the doctor must be well informed about the generics products during their academic career that will significantly impact health-care budgets.

A comparative study on perception and use of generic drugs between public and private health practitioners

“…The majority of the physicians from both groups perceived that generic drugs have the same ingredients, are equally effective and safe as branded drugs. These results were consistent with similar studies conducted in India by Hadia et al [ 9 ] and Wahlang et al [ 12 ] However, there were some distinctions between the groups. Nearly 40% of government physicians did not favour interchangeability between generic and branded drugs as compared to only 20% among private physicians.…”

“…A pre-validated questionnaire formulated using reference material from similar types of studies in the English language was used to collect the data. [ 9 10 ] A convenient sample of 150 physicians was recruited with 75 of them working in the government sector and 75 working in the private sector.…”

Patient’s and Consultant’s Views and Perceptions on Switching from an Originator Biologic to Biosimilar Medication: A Qualitative Study

“…Similar concerns regarding switching from branded medicines to generics, e.g., tablets, have been reported [34]. A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study concluded that a high proportion of consultants believe that generic medicines are of poorer quality, calling the manufacturing process into question, which impacts their reluctance to prescribe [30,35].…”