Assessment of knowledge, attitude and practice among pharmacy professionals towards generic medicines in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract

Background Suboptimal knowledge and attitude of healthcare professionals about generics reduce utilization of these drugs. The objective of this study was to assess the knowledge gap, attitude and practice among pharmacy professionals toward generic medicine in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Method The study was conducted in Addis Ababa from 10 April to10 July 2018 among 424 pharmacy professionals. Self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. Data were analyzed by using statistical package for social sciences version 24 and multi-variable binary logistic regression was used to identify predictors of the dependent variables. Result Majority (77.1%) of the participants claimed that they have had knowledge on the concept of generic medicine. Knowledge was significantly associated with participants’ educational qualification and work experience. More than half (55%) of them have an attitude that brand medicines are of higher quality compared to generics and 37.6% of them believe generic medicines are less effective than brand medicines. About 80% of the participants claimed that locally manufactured generics are cheaper than imported generics. Affordability to the customer, cost effectiveness of generic medicine and consumer preference/demand were the commonest reasons to dispense generic medicines. Conclusion Though vast majority of the study participants have had knowledge on the concept of generic medicine, their attitude and practice seem suboptimal that will influence utilization of generic products.