Mahdi Layla Abdullah, Kadhim Dheyaa Jabbar, Al-Jumaili Ali Azeez
University of Baghdad College of Pharmacy, Baghdad, Iraq.
The University of Iowa College of Pharmacy, Iowa, USA.
Innov Pharm. 2020 Feb 7;11(1). doi: 10.24926/iip.v11i1.2332. eCollection 2020.
The study aim was to explore the knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes of Iraqi physicians regarding generic and locally manufactured medicines.
A total of 124 physicians were involved in this cross -sectional study. The convenience sample was collected from five public hospitals in Baghdad. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed and collected in-person. Fisher's Exact Test was used to measure the association between physician years of experience, gender and categorical (perception and knowledge) variables.
Most respondent answers regarding the knowledge of generic medicines were incorrect. Only up to one-third of the participants knew that generic medicines are therapeutically equivalent to brand name medicines (26.6%), as safe as brand name medicines (34.7%) and required to meet similar safety standards as brand name medicines (12.1%). With respect to perception, many physicians had negative perceptions about generic medicines such as viewing generic medicines as lower quality (57.3%) and cause more side effects (41.1%) compared to brand name medicines. Regarding physician attitudes toward generic medicines, about two-thirds (64.5%) of the physicians were willing to prescribe low cost medicines; however, only about half (51.6%) of the physicians reported they offer generic medicines to their patients. Finally, 64.5% of the participants were not comfortable with pharmacist replacing prescribed brand with generic medicines.
In general, Iraqi physicians have negative perceptions and attitudes about generic and locally manufactured medicines. Significant gaps were identified in the knowledge and perceptions among physicians regarding generic medicines especially in relation to efficacy and safety of generic medicines.
本研究旨在探究伊拉克医生对仿制药和本地生产药品的知识、认知及态度。
共有124名医生参与了这项横断面研究。便利样本取自巴格达的五家公立医院。自行填写的问卷通过面对面方式发放和收集。采用费舍尔精确检验来衡量医生的工作年限、性别与分类变量（认知和知识）之间的关联。
大多数受访者关于仿制药知识的回答是错误的。只有至多三分之一的参与者知道仿制药在治疗上等同于品牌药（26.6%）、与品牌药一样安全（34.7%）以及需要达到与品牌药相似的安全标准（12.1%）。在认知方面，许多医生对仿制药有负面认知，比如认为仿制药质量低于品牌药（57.3%），且比品牌药会引起更多副作用（41.1%）。关于医生对仿制药的态度，约三分之二（64.5%）的医生愿意开低成本药品；然而，只有约一半（51.6%）的医生表示他们会给患者开仿制药。最后，64.5%的参与者对药剂师用仿制药替代处方品牌药感到不满。
总体而言，伊拉克医生对仿制药和本地生产药品有负面认知和态度。在医生对仿制药的知识和认知方面，尤其是在仿制药的疗效和安全性方面，发现了显著差距。
