Palestinian Medical and Pharmaceutical Journal (Pal. Med. Pharm. J.)

Article info

Keywords

• Knowledge;
• Pharmacists;
• Oman
• Generic
• Community
• Brand;
• Medicines;

Abstract

Background: The availability of generic drugs in the drug markets has increased noticea-bly, and generic substitution is a regular practice in many countries. The current study assess-es community pharmacists' knowledge, attitude, perception, and practices toward generic drug substitution in the North Al-Batinah Governorate of Oman. Methods: This is a cross-sectional survey. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to a convenience sample of community pharmacists in the North Al Batinah Governorate, Oman. The survey was con-ducted for three months, from November 2018 to January 2019. The data collected was ana-lyzed using SPSS-IBM v20. Results: A total of 60 community pharmacies were surveyed, with a response rate of 86%. The study assessed the responses of 53 community pharmacists who met the inclusion criteria, the majority (73.6%, n=39) were men, 49.1% (n=26) of the pharmacist were in the age group of 25-30 years, and 73.6% (n=39) of the pharmacists were Indian. The study observed that the average knowledge score was 6.83 (±1.46). A high per-centage of community pharmacists were aware that generic medicines and brands are bioe-quivalent (81.1%) and can be substituted in medical treatments (88.7%), and 86.8% knew that generics are in similar chemical structures and drug safety profiles. In addition, most pharmacists (92%) were familiar with the generic medication of most brands in the market. Community pharmacists indicated that bonuses, incentives, patient demand for the medicine, and manufacturer credibility influenced their stocking and dispensing of generic medicine in the community pharmacies. Conclusion: Pharmacists showed a positive attitude towards ge-neric drugs and highly supported generic substitution of generics in community pharmacies. However, educational intervention/continuing education training programs are required to improve generic medicine dispensing practices among community pharmacists.

معلومات المقال

الكلمات الإفتتاحية

• Knowledge;
• Pharmacists;
• Oman
• Generic
• Community
• Brand;
• Medicines;

الملخص

Background: The availability of generic drugs in the drug markets has increased noticea-bly, and generic substitution is a regular practice in many countries. The current study assess-es community pharmacists' knowledge, attitude, perception, and practices toward generic drug substitution in the North Al-Batinah Governorate of Oman. Methods: This is a cross-sectional survey. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to a convenience sample of community pharmacists in the North Al Batinah Governorate, Oman. The survey was con-ducted for three months, from November 2018 to January 2019. The data collected was ana-lyzed using SPSS-IBM v20. Results: A total of 60 community pharmacies were surveyed, with a response rate of 86%. The study assessed the responses of 53 community pharmacists who met the inclusion criteria, the majority (73.6%, n=39) were men, 49.1% (n=26) of the pharmacist were in the age group of 25-30 years, and 73.6% (n=39) of the pharmacists were Indian. The study observed that the average knowledge score was 6.83 (±1.46). A high per-centage of community pharmacists were aware that generic medicines and brands are bioe-quivalent (81.1%) and can be substituted in medical treatments (88.7%), and 86.8% knew that generics are in similar chemical structures and drug safety profiles. In addition, most pharmacists (92%) were familiar with the generic medication of most brands in the market. Community pharmacists indicated that bonuses, incentives, patient demand for the medicine, and manufacturer credibility influenced their stocking and dispensing of generic medicine in the community pharmacies. Conclusion: Pharmacists showed a positive attitude towards ge-neric drugs and highly supported generic substitution of generics in community pharmacies. However, educational intervention/continuing education training programs are required to improve generic medicine dispensing practices among community pharmacists.