Knowledge, attitudes and practices of community pharmacists on generic medicines in Palestine: A cross-sectional Study

Supervisor:

Dr.Nasr Shraim 

Abstract:

Background and Objectives:

Generic substitution in several countries has become a common practice. Besides, it is considered as a major cost minimizing strategy meant to contain pharmaceutical expenditure without compromising healthcare quality. However, the safety and quality issues of generic products are of top concerns of general practitioners and health work professionals. This study was aimed to investigate community pharmacist’s knowledge, attitude and practices toward generic medicines substitution in Palestine.

Methods:

Self-administered questionnaire was used to achieve the objectives of this study. The questionnaire was distributed in West Bank, North Palestine among 302 community pharmacists. It comprised of 4 sections: demographic factors, pharmacists' practice, attitude and knowledge section. The collected data from the returned questionnaire were coded and entered into the Statistical Package for Social Sciences program (SPSS) version16.

Results:

A total of 302 community pharmacists were interviewed, the majority were males 158 (52.3%) and 144 (47.7%) were females. The highest percent of pharmacists (42.4%) were between the ages of [20-29] years-old. The results showed that the majority of pharmacists 188 (62.3%) support generic substitution for brand name drugs in all cases when a generic is available and 87% of pharmacists agreed that they should be given the right to substitute generics. The main two factors affect pharmacists' selection and dispensing of generic medicines are personal faith in the product (86.1%) and cost effectiveness of generic medicines (84.1%). The mean knowledge score regarding generic medicines among male and female pharmacists was (5.92 ± 1.30 and 5.91 ± 1.24, respectively) the highest score was 8 of 10. Knowledge score was not significantly influenced by country of graduation and years of practice. 

Conclusions:

Generic medicines substitution among pharmacists is widespread and prevalent. Our data found that participant pharmacists in Palestine had basic knowledge with regards to generic medicine. However, their knowledge score pertaining the technical and regulatory aspects of bioequivalence and pharmacokinetic parameters in particular was insufficient. They still need more pharmacy education and training in order to promote the practice of generic medicines in Palestine.

Key Words:

Generic medicines, community pharmacists, knowledge, attitude, practice, Palestine.