AUTHOR=Al-Arifi Mohamed N. 

TITLE=Assessment of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Factors Influencing the Selection Student of Generic Medicine

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 9 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.767128

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2021.767128

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=Background: Generic replacements for branded medicines have become a typical practice among registered pharmacists all over the world. Therefore, this study was aimed to determine the influence of PharmD students’ knowledge, attitudes, and other factors on the selection of unbranded medicines. 
Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted through Google Forms to collect data using self-reported questionnaires. The data was collected over a period of three months, from January to March 2021, among junior level pharmacy students who are currently undertaking PharmD course at King Saud University, college of pharmacy, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 
Results: The mean age of the students was 21.05± (SD=1.03), majority of students 70.2%(n=134) were able to define the term generic medicine, and about 65% (n=123) were able to correctly define bioequivalence. More than half of the students, 56.5% (n=108) lacked knowledge about pharmacokinetic parameters of generic products. Meanwhile, majority 85% (n=122) supported generics over branded medicines, and about 66% (n=99) agreed that wider use of generic medicines would lead to less money required for research and development of new pharmaceuticals. 
Conclusion: Findings revealed that most pharmacy students possess sufficient knowledge on generic medicines, although knowledge in some aspects remain lacking.