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Investigation of the National Drug Lists and the Perception of Pharmacists and Physicians about Generic Drugs at Health Institutions in the North Central Region of Trinidad

Journal Authors: 
DOI: 
10.7727/wimj.2018.014
Pages: 

ABSTRACT

Objective: To investigate the drugs on three annual national drug pricing lists and via a survey determine the perception and concerns physicians and pharmacists have about generic drugs.

Method: Windows® Excel 2007 and Minitab® version 17 examined the pricing lists and a self-administered questionnaire was used to perform a non-randomized, cross-sectional study with convenient sampling of physicians and pharmacists after obtaining written consent.

Results: Physicians (78.6%) and pharmacists (87.1%) agreed and strongly agreed, respectively that there are medical conditions for which brand name drugs are preferred including cardiovascular conditions and diabetes; which were comprised in the five major medication categories on the national drug list. Overall, physicians and pharmacists showed a ‘Good’ to ‘Excellent’ perception of generic drugs but had some safety and efficacy concerns. Lack of reporting of adverse drug reactions and quality issues by health professionals was also observed.

Conclusion: Education and communication amongst patients, physicians and pharmacists can improve perception of generic drugs; hence, increase confidence in prescribing, dispensing and patient management.

 

Accepted: 
08 May, 2018
PDF Attachment: 
e-Published: 26 Feb, 2019

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Manuscripts that are Published Ahead of Print have been peer reviewed and accepted for publication by the Editorial Board of the West Indian Medical Journal. They may appear in their original format and may not be copy edited or formatted in the style guide of this Journal. While accepted manuscripts are not yet assigned a volume, issue or page numbers, they can be cited using the DOI and date of e-publication. See our Instructions for Authors on how to properly cite manuscripts at this stage. The contents of the manuscript may change before it is published in its final form. Manuscripts in this section will be removed once they have been issued to a volume and issue, but will still retain the DOI and date of e-publication.

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