Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of community pharmacists on generic medicines in Qatar

Awaisu, Ahmed; Kheir, Nadir; Ibrahim, Mohamed Izham Mohamed; Hajj, Maguy Saffouh El; Hazi, Huda; Khudair, Nada; Barazi, Raja

doi:10.1007/s11096-013-9909-2

Cited by 40 publications

(75 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…The study has the limitations inherent in most survey-type studies, for example a hardcopy questionnaire was used for data collection, meaning there is a chance that subjects refer to the internet or other educational resources to answer the knowledge-based questions [38]. Further, there is a possibility of a social desirability response bias on the attitude issues, where the interviewees might be inclined to provide more favourable responses toward generic medicine [38,39].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Further, there is a possibility of a social desirability response bias on the attitude issues, where the interviewees might be inclined to provide more favourable responses toward generic medicine [38,39]. Finally, this study was conducted in Kabul city focusing on community pharmacists; therefore, the sample and results may not be representative of the attitudes of all community pharmacists and all cities in the country.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Community pharmacists’ attitudes toward the quality and price of locally manufactured generic medicines in Kabul, Afghanistan

Bashaar

Saleem

2015

J of Pharm Policy and Pract

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ObjectiveTo report the attitudes of community pharmacists in Kabul, Afghanistan, concerning the quality and price of locally manufactured medicines.MethodsA cross-sectional descriptive study, involving a sample of 198 community pharmacists was conducted in Kabul city.ResultsWith a response rate of 100%, most of the respondents 70.7% had 11–20 years experience working as a pharmacist. About 84.3% of the pharmacists dispensed imported generic medicines from Pakistan, Iran, India, and the UAE. Only 15.7% of pharmacists were dispensing locally produced generics from Ariana (i.e. a local pharmaceutical manufacturer). Exactly half of the pharmacists 50.0% reported that locally produced generics were equally safe and efficacious as the imported generics, while 70.7% of the respondents believed that the local manufacturers of generic products had reliable logistics and supply systems. However, 80.8% of respondents expressed concerns regarding their own credibility when stocking the medicines. Consequently, 80.3% of the sample only stocked well-advertised domestic generics, which were likely to be seen by consumers as more credible alternatives. Most of the respondents 82.8% were confident that the locally manufactured generics were cheaper than imported generics. Interestingly, 80.8% of the respondents favoured the establishment of a national brand substitution policy. Furthermore, 90.4% of the respondents believed that it was the responsibility of the Afghan regulatory authorities to educate pharmacists on the quality of domestic generics.ConclusionAlthough community pharmacists had a positive attitude towards the quality and affordability of locally manufactured medicines, due to lack of resources most of their medicines are imported. Despite their positivity towards the quality and price of generics, the community pharmacists only dispense them to a minimal degree, because of low local production levels among other reasons. The findings call for improvements in the local pharmaceutical industry in order to substitute imported medicines with local generics. The government must take firm steps to formulate and reinforce pharmaceutical pricing and brand substitution policies to help in controlling healthcare costs. Further research, especially a countrywide survey, is required.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community pharmacists’ attitudes toward the quality and price of locally manufactured generic medicines in Kabul, Afghanistan

Bashaar

Saleem

2015

J of Pharm Policy and Pract

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“…Previous studies reported that some patients are using CAM products as alternatives to conventional medicines, however, other patients are using them concomitantly with their prescribed medications [6]. As community pharmacies are major provider of CAM products, pharmacists need to have good knowledge on the appropriate way to use these products.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community pharmacists’ knowledge, practices and beliefs about complementary and alternative medicine in Palestine: a cross-sectional study

Shraim

Shawahna

Sorady

et al. 2017

BMC Complement Altern Med

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BackgroundComplementary and alternative medicine (CAM) utilization is dramatically increasing among patients. As community pharmacies are a major provider of CAM products, community pharmacists need to have the sufficient knowledge and information to advice their patients, answer their inquiries and to be proactive in the healthcare process to ensure optimal therapy outputs and minimize both drug-drug and drug-herb interactions. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to assess the knowledge, beliefs, and practices of community pharmacists in Palestine about CAM.MethodsThe study was conducted in a cross-sectional design in which a questionnaire was administered on a sample of licensed community pharmacists from Palestine. The questionnaire was of 5 sections: demographic and practice details of the participants, practice, beliefs, and knowledge about CAM. Mann-Whitney-U or Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to comparison of different issues as appropriate. P-values of <0.05 were considered significant.ResultsA total of 284 community pharmacists were surveyed, however, 281 were included in the analysis as they met inclusion criteria. Out of the 281, 149 (53.0%) of the participants were males and the rest were females. About 40% of the participants were between 20 to 29 years old. Pharmacists frequently recommended CAM modalities. Exercises (84.0%) and food supplements (82.6%) were the most commonly recommended modalities. In the last year, vitamin B12 was the most frequently prescribed supplement. The median knowledge score was 5 out of 8 and the median beliefs about CAM score was 4.0 out of 7.0.ConclusionsCAM recommendations by pharmacists appear to be commonplace. Although their knowledge scores were fair to average, pharmacists still need more education and training about CAM in order to be more qualified to provide better pharmaceutical care and improve their patient’s outcome.

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“…Similar studies were done on pharmacists and doctors which showed similar results as in our study. [3,7,8] The results of this study showed that most of the students were aware that generic medicines are substitute of innovator medicines. However, very few know that it can be prescribed after expiry of patent of innovator medicine till it is protected by patent law and doctor can only prescribe innovator medicine.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 76%

“…[3,7,8] Such study was not done on MBBS students who will be future doctors. Hence, we planned this study with the aim of assessing knowledge, attitude, and practice of medical students toward generic medicines.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study of medical student's perspectives about prescribing generic medicine at tertiary care teaching hospital

Chavda¹,

Patel²,

Tandel³

et al. 2017

Natl J Physiol Pharm Pharmacol

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Background: Health-care expenses are booming nowadays. India is one of the biggest generic medicine manufacturers in all over the world still generic medicines are less prescribed in India. In the USA, 86% prescriptions contain generic medicines which saved 1.5 trillion dollars of USA consumers in the past decade. Less knowledge of generic medicine is correlated to less prescribing. Previously, studies were carried out on pharmacist and general practitioner to assess knowledge, attitude, and practice of generic medicine among them. Such study was not done on MBBS students who will be future doctors. Aims and Objectives: This study was planned with the aim of assessing knowledge, attitude, and practice of medical students toward generic medicines. Materials and Methods:This was a questioner-based cross-sectional survey kind of study. This preformed and pre-evaluated questioner was given to third semester of second year MBBS students. Questioner contains 10 items for knowledge, 10 items for attitude, and 2 items for practice. These are multiple choice kind of questions. Data were analyzed by MS Excel. Results: In this study, 110 students participated. Only 14.55% of students said that generic drugs only be marketed after expiry of patent of innovator drug. Only 27.27% of students said that generic drug manufacturer need not to repeat the preclinical studies and clinical trials as required by innovator medicines. Most of the students (65.45%) know that innovator drugs are more costly than their generic substitute. Only 23.64% of students were aware about the Government of India scheme called Jan Aushadhi whose sole purpose to set up generic drug stores in the country. Just 30.91% of participants know that patients or pharmacists are not legally empowered to sell or purchase generic medicines over innovator medicine. There were a good number of participants (54.55%) not agree with Generic drugs cost less because they are inferior to innovator (patented) drug. About 88.18% of students gave the opinion that there should be a training program to increase the awareness regarding generic drugs among doctors and patients. Nearly 81.82% of students gave the opinion that there should be a generic medicine store at every government hospital. 80% of participants had not read any article regarding the comparison of safety and efficacy of generic versus innovator (patented) drugs. Conclusion: This study showed that medical students having good knowledge, attitude about safety, efficacy, and cost of generic medicines. Students know less about government scheme such as Jan Aushadhi. They also support that patients and pharmacist are legally empowered to sell or purchase generic medicine in place of costly innovator medicines. Students also agree with there should be some change in policy by medical insurance company to improve generic drugs prescribing.

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Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of community pharmacists on generic medicines in Qatar

Abstract: In order to enhance the quality use of and to promote the practice of generic medicines in Qatar, an educational program should be implemented. A national generic medicine policy and guidelines are warranted in the State of Qatar.

Cited by 40 publications

References 41 publications

Community pharmacists’ attitudes toward the quality and price of locally manufactured generic medicines in Kabul, Afghanistan

Community pharmacists’ attitudes toward the quality and price of locally manufactured generic medicines in Kabul, Afghanistan

Community pharmacists’ knowledge, practices and beliefs about complementary and alternative medicine in Palestine: a cross-sectional study

Study of medical student's perspectives about prescribing generic medicine at tertiary care teaching hospital

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