Study of knowledge, attitude, and practice of prescribing generic medicines by resident doctors at a tertiary care teaching hospital

Abstract

Context: In this era of rapidly rising health-care costs, generic medications offer a more cost-effective alternative to branded medications. Aims: The main objective of this study is to evaluate junior (resident) doctors’ knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding the prescription of generic medications in a tertiary care teaching hospital. Settings and Design: It is an observational, cross-sectional study held at a tertiary care teaching hospital. Materials and Methods: An online, prevalidated questionnaire was used for this study. Results: A total response of 102 resident doctors was recorded. 75.70% (78) of the participants responded positively that generic medicines are cheaper than branded medicines. 68.90% (71) of participants had knowledge regarding Jan Aushadhi Yojana and generic medicine stores. About 90.30% (93) of participants positively suggested conducting a training program to increase the awareness regarding generic medicines and 86.40% (89) of participants suggested promoting the use of generic medicines. However, 26.20% (27) of participants had not read any article on generic medicines and 30.10% (31) participants disagreed with the substitution of a branded drug with a generic medicine by pharmacists. Sixty-five percent (67) of the participants preferred to prescribe generic medicines and 79.60% (82) of participants suggested that they are willing to encourage the patients to use generic medicines. Conclusions: Our study found that the resident doctors were well-versed in the idea of generic medications and their advantages. However, promoting training initiatives, setting up workshops, running journal club meetings, continuing medical education, etc., need to be planned to boost the number of prescriptions for generic drugs.