Greek students' attitudes, perception and knowledge regarding generic medicines in times of economic crisis: a cross-sectional study

Perception of pharmacological equivalence of generics or biosimilars in healthcare professionals in Vienna

PURPOSE

Due to constantly rising therapy costs, biosimilars and generic drugs have gained tremendous importance through recent decades. Nevertheless, the acceptance among healthcare workers regarding biosimilars and generic drugs in previously published international studies is considerably lower than the scientific data on equivalent safety and efficacy would suggest. The aim of this questionnaire-based survey was to determine the perception and knowledge regarding generic drugs and biosimilars by medical professionals from different healthcare facilities in Vienna, Austria.

METHODS

The online questionnaire was sent to public and religious hospitals in Vienna, including the university hospital "Vienna General Hospital." In addition, doctors' offices were reached by sending out the questionnaire in the weekly news of the Vienna Medical Association.

RESULTS

A total of 282 physicians and 311 graduated nurses took part in the study. 63% and 62% of the participants were convinced that generic respective biosimilar drugs were clinically equivalent to the original reference drug. On average, 1.6 out of 4 knowledge questions were answered correctly about generics, while only 0.87 out of 4 questions were answered accurately about biosimilars.

CONCLUSION

The results of this study support the outcome from previous surveys demonstrating that a large proportion of healthcare professionals is still skeptical about generics and biosimilars. According to the results of this study, better education of the medical staff might ensure greater acceptance of these types of drugs.

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

Background

Pharmacists' knowledge of the differences in the characteristics between generic drugs and biosimilars is essential to ensure good practice and lower pharmaceutical bills.

Objectives

This study aimed to evaluate community pharmacists' knowledge and perception of using and substituting biosimilars and generic drugs.

Design

A pilot cross-sectional study was performed over 2 months (August-September 2022) targeting community pharmacists in their work site.

Method

Data were collected using a uniform survey given to 75 pharmacists. Afterward, a knowledge score was generated by summing several individual scores of statements regarding generic drugs and biosimilars.

Results

Overall, pharmacists had moderate to low knowledge scores, namely, with the statements tackling biosimilars. No significance was reported between these scores and their general characteristics. As regards their substitution, most pharmacists agreed to substitute generic drugs if the brand was not available, while the doctor's approval was crucial for biosimilar switching. Most participants perceived equal effectiveness of generic drugs but similar to a lower one for biosimilars compared to the reference medication. Pharmacists highlighted the need to include generic drugs and biosimilars in the continuing education program and workshops.

Conclusion

To promote their use, improving pharmacists' knowledge can help overcome misconceptions about generic drugs and biosimilars. It is recommended that health care stakeholders focus on fostering good understanding among pharmacists to enhance access to medication.

CLINICAL AND BEHAVIORAL PRACTICES OF PRIMARY HEALTHCARE PHYSICIANS IN ANTIBIOTICS PRESCRIBING IN GREECE

OBJECTIVE

Aim: To evaluate primary health physicians' clinical and behavioral practices towards antibiotics administration in a specific region in Greece.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Materials and methods: A cross sectional study was conducted using a questionnaire in all structures of primary health care (PHC) of the Peloponnese Region. The study was conducted in May-October 2020.

RESULTS

Results: In total, 306 out of 404 primary healthcare physicians completed the questionnaire (response rate of 75.8%). Our results showed that most of physicians used to prescribing antibiotics empirically in common diseases, except for the prevention of secondary respiratory tract infection. Overall, 66.3% answered that they do not feel diagnostic uncertainty that would lead them to prescribe antibiotics. Approximately 40% of the physicians stated an increase on antibiotics use and patients demand for antibiotic prescribing, however 71.4% "rarely/never" affected by this requirement. 51.9% of the sample used to prescribed brand name antibiotics. Statistically significant differences were found between demographic and professional characteristics, and physicians' clinical and behavioral practices (p≤ 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Conclusions: Our findings could provide decision makers with information on how to manage antibiotic prescribing in primary health care in the country, focusing mainly on the use of specific diagnostic tests as well as relevant guidelines and protocols for changing prescription behavior.

Knowledge, perceptions and practices of pharmacists regarding generic substitution in China: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate pharmacists' knowledge, perceptions and practices towards generic substitution in the 11 pilot locations in China.

DESIGN

An online cross-sectional survey using questionnaires was conducted. A convenience sampling technique was implemented to recruit pharmacists.

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

The study took place in medical institutions of 11 pilot locations that participated in the pilot national centralised procurement programme in 2019. Two thousand two hundred and ninety-one pharmacists including hospital pharmacists or community pharmacists based on health-systems or clinics participated in the study.

RESULTS

Most of the participants had the good knowledge of requirements for evaluating the quality and efficacy of generic drugs (n=2118; 92.4%), and the definition of generic drugs (n=2078; 90.7%). In terms of perceptions, 67.3% of respondents were of the opinion that generic drugs are equally as effective as the brand-name drugs, and 69.0% of respondents were of the opinion that generic drugs are as safe as brand equivalents. A high percentage of participants supported the policy of generic substitution (n=1634; 71.4%). A significant positive correlation was demonstrated between total knowledge score and total perception score (ρ=0.267; p<0.001). Efficacy, safety and the direction of national policies and hospital regulations were the main factors affecting pharmacists' willingness to dispense generic drugs.

CONCLUSIONS

The study identified gaps in respondents' knowledge and perceptions of generic substitution. Pharmacists who are more knowledgeable in generic drugs tend to hold a more supportive attitude towards generic substitution. Although it appeared that pharmacists in China have largely accepted generic substitution, they still have concerns regarding the reliability and quality of generic drugs. The current issues need to be addressed for the realisation of the true value of generic drugs as part of the country's healthcare cost-containment strategy as well as the implementation of generic substitution policy in China.

Attitude and Purchase Intention to Generic Drugs

Generic drugs were instituted in 1984 in the United States. Since that time, many studies have been conducted in several countries into consumer attitude and behavior when purchasing generic drugs. Understanding the factors that can influence attitude and purchasing intention in this segment has been a challenge. Thus, this paper aims to present a mapping of the literature on the attitude toward and intention to purchase generic drugs and capture insights that can help define and improve promotional strategies for the use of these products. To identify articles related to the theme, we selected the Web of Science, Science Direct, Scopus, Lilacs, Pubmed Central, Springer, and Embase databases time limited to June 2020, using the keywords “generic drug”, “purchase intention”, and “attitude”. The results indicate that this topic is relatively new, with publications in the leading journals in the area demonstrating its importance. Analysis revealed five strategic insights and showed that the research theme could be grouped into three clusters: (i) consumer attitude and behavior, (ii) perspective of patients and health professionals, and (iii) assessment of the risks associated with generic medications to determine which factors can influence purchase intention, providing decision makers with a broader view with regard to directing public policy strategies in healthcare.