Clinical Pharmacy Departments, School of Pharmacy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia.
Pharmacology Department, School of Pharmacy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia.
PLoS One. 2018 Nov 7;13(11):e0204146. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0204146. eCollection 2018.
Generic medicine prescribing has become common practice in many countries. However, data regarding the perceptions of stakeholders (patients, prescribers and dispensers) regarding generic medicines in Ethiopia is scarce. The present survey aimed to investigate the perception of patients, physicians and pharmacy professionals regarding generic medicines in Ethiopia.
A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted in Gondar town, Northwest Ethiopia between January 1 and February 1, 2017. The questionnaire, comprised of 5-point Likert scale items on perception and concerns regarding generic medicine, was administered to patients, physicians and pharmacy professionals working in the community drug retail outlets. Frequencies, percentages, and median were calculated using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 21.0 for Windows to describe different variables.
The survey was completed by 612 participants. More than half of patients, 56% (n = 219) knew about the term brand and generic medicines and 38.7% (n = 151) of patients agreed/strongly agreed that brand medicines are more effective. Nearly half, 47% (n = 184) of patients agreed that they should have the option of choosing between generic and brand medicines and 61.4% (n = 240) of patients believed that cost should be considered before a medicineis prescribed. The majority of physicians 70.6% (n = 101) indicated a very low generic medicine prescription rate. 56% (n = 130) of physicians and 87.2% (n = 68) of pharmacy professionals agreed that they need a standard guideline to both prescribers and pharmacists on brand substitution process. Furthermore, 39.9% (n = 57) of the physicians and 87.2% (n = 68) of pharmacy professionals agreed that drug advertisements by the manufacturers would influence their prescribing/dispensing practice.
Overall, our findings demonstrate a knowledge gap among patients towards the perception of generics, perceiving generics are less effective and inferior in quality compared to their branded equivalents. The majority of physicians reported a very low generic medicine prescribing rate and the majority pharmacy professionals' dispensing practice was influenced by drug advertisements. Hence, a customized educational program should be developed and implemented to patients, prescribers and dispensers so as to boost the acceptability of generic medicines and increase generic prescribing and/or substitution.
在许多国家，开通用药已成为普遍做法。然而，关于利益相关者（患者、开方者和配药者）对埃塞俄比亚仿制药看法的数据却很少。本调查旨在调查患者、医生和药剂师对埃塞俄比亚仿制药的看法。
2017 年 1 月 1 日至 2 月 1 日，在埃塞俄比亚西北部贡德尔镇进行了一项定量横断面调查。调查问卷由关于对仿制药的看法和关注的 5 点李克特量表条目组成，分发给在社区药品零售点工作的患者、医生和药剂师。使用 Windows 版统计软件包（SPSS）第 21 版计算不同变量的频率、百分比和中位数。
共有 612 名参与者完成了调查。超过一半的患者（56%，n=219）了解品牌药和仿制药的术语，38.7%（n=151）的患者同意/强烈同意品牌药更有效。近一半（47%，n=184）的患者同意他们应该有选择品牌药和仿制药的选择，61.4%（n=240）的患者认为在开处方前应考虑药物的成本。大多数医生（70.6%，n=101）表示仿制药的处方率非常低。56%（n=130）的医生和 87.2%（n=68）的药剂师同意他们需要一个关于品牌替代过程的标准指南，供医生和药剂师使用。此外，39.9%（n=57）的医生和 87.2%（n=68）的药剂师同意制造商的药品广告会影响他们的处方/配药习惯。
总的来说，我们的研究结果表明，患者对仿制药的认识存在差距，认为仿制药不如品牌药有效，质量也较差。大多数医生报告说仿制药的处方率非常低，大多数药剂师的配药习惯受到药品广告的影响。因此，应制定并实施针对患者、处方者和配药者的定制教育计划，以提高对仿制药的接受度，并增加仿制药的处方和/或替代。
