Healthy Skepticism Library item: 19152
Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.
Publication type: Journal Article
Shrank WH, Liberman JN, Fischer MA, Girdish C, Brennan TA, Choudhry NK
Physician Perceptions About Generic Drugs (January)
Ann Pharmacother 2011 Jan 4;
http://www.theannals.com/cgi/content/full/45/1/31
Abstract:
BACKGROUND: With constrained
health-care resources, there is a
need to understand barriers to
cost-effective medication use.
OBJECTIVE: To study physician
perceptions about generic
medications.
METHODS: Physicians used 5-point
Likert scales to report perceptions
about costrelated medication
nonadherence, the efficacy and
quality of generic medications,
preferences for generic use, and the
implications of dispensing
medication samples. Descriptive
statistics were used to assess
physician perceptions and logistic
regression models were used to
evaluate predictors of physician
perceptions.
RESULTS: Among the invited sample,
839 (30.4%) responded and 506
(18.3%) were eligible and included
in the final study population. Over
23% of physicians surveyed expressed
negative perceptions about efficacy
of generic drugs, almost 50%
reported negative perceptions about
quality of generic medications, and
more than one quarter do not prefer
to use generics as first-line
medications for themselves or for
their family. Physicians over the
age of 55 years were 3.3 times more
likely to report negative
perceptions about generic quality,
5.8 times more likely to report that
they would not use generics
themselves, and 7.5 times more
likely to state that they would not
recommend generics for family
members (p < 0.05 for all).
Physicians reported that
pharmaceutical company
representatives are the most common
(75%) source of information about
market entry of a generic
medication. Almost half of the
respondents expressed concern that
free samples may adversely affect
subsequent affordability, yet two
thirds of respondents provide free
samples.
CONCLUSIONS: A meaningful proportion
of physicians expressed negative
perceptions about generic
medications, representing a
potential barrier to generic use.
Payors and policymakers trying to
encourage generic use may consider
educational campaigns targeting
older physicians.
