El-Dahiyat Faris, Kayyali Reem, Bidgood Penelope
Faculty of Pharmacy, Isra University, Amman, Jordan.
Pharmacy Department, Kingston University, Penrhyn Road, Kingston upon Thames KT1 2EE, UK.
J Pharm Policy Pract. 2014 Jun 19;7:7. doi: 10.1186/2052-3211-7-7. eCollection 2014.
The aim of this study was to investigate Jordanian physicians' perception and attitudes toward generic medicines and generic substitution. It also aimed to examine factors that affect physicians' pattern of prescribing, and to evaluate their opinion regarding future introduction of Electronic Prescribing (EP) in Jordan.
A cross-sectional descriptive study involving Jordanian physicians working in both public and private sectors was undertaken, using a self-administrated anonymous questionnaire. Frequency tables, cross-tabulation and chi square tests were used for data analysis. The response rate was 75.2% (n = 376/500).
Cost was claimed to be an important factor in the prescribing decision for 69.1% of the Jordanian physicians. The majority of physicians (77.4%) claimed that they often prescribe generic medicines. Jordanian physicians predominantly welcomed the implementation of an EP and International Nonproprietary Name (INN) prescribing systems with 92%, and 80.1% respectively. More than two thirds of the physicians (69.4%) accepted generic substitution by pharmacists, with a significant association with their employment sector; physicians who work in the private sector tended to oppose generic substitution compared with physicians who work in the public sector. Physicians mostly (72.1%) opposed that generic substitution should only be allowed upon patient request.
Jordanian physicians have a positive attitude towards generic medications and high willingness and acceptance of strategies that encourage generic utilisation such as EP, INN prescribing and generic substitution. All these strategies would help reduce the high expenditure on medicines in Jordan. These findings would provide baseline data to policy makers to develop a robust generic policy to achieve greater clinical effectiveness and economic efficiency from medicines prescribing.
本研究旨在调查约旦医生对仿制药和仿制药替代的认知与态度。同时，研究还旨在探究影响医生处方模式的因素，并评估他们对约旦未来引入电子处方（EP）的看法。
采用自行填写的匿名问卷，对约旦公共和私营部门工作的医生进行了一项横断面描述性研究。数据分析使用了频率表、交叉表和卡方检验。回复率为75.2%（n = 376/500）。
69.1%的约旦医生称成本是处方决策中的一个重要因素。大多数医生（77.4%）称他们经常开仿制药。约旦医生对实施电子处方和国际非专利药名（INN）处方系统的支持率分别为92%和80.1%。超过三分之二的医生（69.4%）接受药剂师进行仿制药替代，且这与他们的就业部门有显著关联；与在公共部门工作的医生相比，在私营部门工作的医生往往反对仿制药替代。大多数医生（72.1%）反对仅应患者要求才允许仿制药替代。
约旦医生对仿制药持积极态度，对鼓励使用仿制药的策略如电子处方、INN处方和仿制药替代有较高的意愿和接受度。所有这些策略将有助于减少约旦高昂的药品支出。这些研究结果将为政策制定者提供基线数据，以制定强有力的仿制药政策，从药品处方中实现更大的临床效果和经济效益。
