Patients' attitude about generics –Bulgarian perspective

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study is to investigate (1) what is the patients' attitude towards and (2) preferences to use generic medicines in Bulgaria and (3) which are the main factors influencing their opinion.METHODS: Using pseudo-randomization we select a sample of 225 participants, men and women from general population, patients in community pharmacies. For our survey we used a standardized self-questionnaire of ten points. The influence of sex, age, education, medical history, knowledge of generic drugs and experience with generic substitution and medicines was examined through Chi-square tests.RESULTS: The results show that 74% of the participants seemed not to be informed on generic drugs and 26% received valuable and relevant information from their general practitioner or pharmacist. 94% believed that generic medicines are inferior to brand medicines on quality, safety and efficacy.CONCLUSIONS: The main reason for almost all the participants (94%) to prefer original medicines, over generics is the insufficient information, they have. The core factors forming patients' opinion and expectations for generic drugs are medical professionals' recommendation and previous experience. The main advantages of the generics according to the participants in the study are the lower price and better accessibility. The results raise the issue of the awareness and level knowledge about generic medicines and the rational drug use in the general population.