Perception and Acceptance of Generic Drugs among Pharmaceutical Chemistry Students at a Mexican University
Keywords:
generic drugs, perception, pharmacy studentsAbstract
Introduction: Perceptions about the use of certain drugs determine their acceptance.
Objective: To study the perception of generic drugs among students studying for a degree in pharmaceutical chemistry and biology at a Mexican university, providing information to modify the existing curriculum, reinforcing knowledge and skills in the access and rational use of drugs.
Methods: A quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted. Data were collected using an adapted questionnaire from a sample of 265 students studying for a degree in pharmaceutical chemistry and biology (55.20% of the total number of students enrolled).
Results: Students' preference for patented medicines for serious illnesses was high (70.56%), stating that they would only use generic medicines for mild or moderate illnesses (63%). They denied that generic medicines offer the same quality guarantees as patented medicines (36.97%). The perception that a patented drug is better than a generic drug prevailed (60.37%). There was a lack of knowledge about the quality of the laboratories that manufacture GMs (37.73%).
Conclusions: The students of the bachelor's degree in pharmaceutical chemistry and biology surveyed lack sufficient knowledge about generic substitution, perceiving them to be of lower quality and less effective than patented drugs, which leads most of them to have a negative attitude towards generic drugs.
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