Knowledge and Perception of Consumers Towards Generic Medicines in Saudi Arabia: A Prospective Cross-Sectional Survey.

IF 2 3区 医学 Q2 MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL
Patient preference and adherence Pub Date : 2025-07-22 eCollection Date: 2025-01-01 DOI:10.2147/PPA.S532513
Monira Alwhaibi, Mashael Alshammari, Noha Al Aloola, Nouf Aloudah, Aliyah Almomen, Tariq M Alhawassi
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Abstract

Background: Brand-to-generic medicine substitution has been a common practice worldwide as one of the strategies to reduce pharmaceutical expenditure and sustain health care systems. The perspective of patients as end-users of these medicines is one of crucial factors in enhancing generic medicines' utilization. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the consumers' knowledge, perception, and current use of generic medicines in Saudi Arabia.

Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study using a purposive sampling technique was conducted among adults aged 18 years and above in Saudi Arabia from December 2023 to January 2024. The study participants comprised the adult population aged 18 years and above living in Saudi Arabia. Descriptive statistics was used to describe the data, and all statistical analyses were carried out using SPSS.

Results: In total, 691 adults participated in this study. About fifty percent of the participants had used generic medications and knew what generic medications meant (41.0%). There was a relatively positive perception towards generic medication in only about one-third of the participants; they either perceive that generics relieve symptoms as brand medication, generics would provide significant savings, or the physicians should always prescribe a generic medication if it's available.

Conclusions: While there was some knowledge of generic medications' cost advantages, still significant gaps in knowledge and trust might hinder their widespread adoption. Addressing these challenges through targeted educational and policy interventions is crucial to promote the use of generic medications. By doing so, we can ensure that consumers have the information and confidence they need to make informed decisions about their medications.

知识和感知消费者对仿制药在沙特阿拉伯:一项前瞻性横断面调查。
背景:作为减少医药支出和维持卫生保健系统的战略之一,品牌药到仿制药的替代已经成为世界范围内的一种普遍做法。患者作为这些药物的最终使用者的观点是提高仿制药利用的关键因素之一。因此,本研究旨在评估沙特阿拉伯消费者对仿制药的知识、认知和现状。方法:采用有目的抽样技术,于2023年12月至2024年1月对沙特阿拉伯18岁及以上的成年人进行前瞻性横断面研究。该研究的参与者包括居住在沙特阿拉伯的18岁及以上的成年人。采用描述性统计对数据进行描述,所有统计分析均采用SPSS软件进行。结果:共有691名成年人参与了这项研究。大约50%的参与者使用过仿制药,并且知道仿制药的含义(41.0%)。只有大约三分之一的参与者对非专利药物有相对积极的看法;他们要么认为非专利药能像品牌药那样缓解症状,要么认为非专利药能节省大量费用,要么认为医生应该总是开非专利药,如果有的话。结论:虽然对仿制药的成本优势有一定的了解,但在知识和信任方面仍存在重大差距,可能会阻碍仿制药的广泛采用。通过有针对性的教育和政策干预来应对这些挑战,对于促进非专利药物的使用至关重要。通过这样做,我们可以确保消费者获得他们需要的信息和信心,以便对他们的药物做出明智的决定。
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来源期刊
Patient preference and adherence
Patient preference and adherence MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL-
CiteScore
3.60
自引率
4.50%
发文量
354
审稿时长
6-12 weeks
期刊介绍: Patient Preference and Adherence is an international, peer reviewed, open access journal that focuses on the growing importance of patient preference and adherence throughout the therapeutic continuum. The journal is characterized by the rapid reporting of reviews, original research, modeling and clinical studies across all therapeutic areas. Patient satisfaction, acceptability, quality of life, compliance, persistence and their role in developing new therapeutic modalities and compounds to optimize clinical outcomes for existing disease states are major areas of interest for the journal. As of 1st April 2019, Patient Preference and Adherence will no longer consider meta-analyses for publication.
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