SynthesisThe patient2016
What Do Users of Generic Medicines Think of Them? A Systematic Review of Consumers' and Patients' Perceptions of, and Experiences with, Generic Medicines.
Synthesis in The patient, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed.
- Effect of Pharmacist-Led Educational Intervention on Switching to Generic Medicine Among Patients Using Brand-Name Medicines in Japan.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Geriatric patients' views on a pharmacist-led follow-up programme after discharge from hospital.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2025Article
- Machine learning analysis of patients' perceptions towards generic medication in Greece: a survey-based study.Frontiers in drug safety and regulation · 2024Article
- Patient preferences for generic substitution policies: a discrete choice experiment in China.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2024Article
- Oral emergency contraception practices of community pharmacies: a mystery caller study in the capital of Germany, Berlin.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2023Article
- Patients' Experience of Medication Brand Changes during Hormone Therapy for Breast Cancer-An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Communication about medication management during patient-physician consultations in primary care: a participant observation study.BMJ open · 2022Observational
- Article
- A nationwide survey exploring physicians' and pharmacists' knowledge, awareness and perceptions regarding generic medicines in China.BMC health services research · 2022Article
- Retrospective Database Analysis to Explore Patterns and Economic Burden of Switchback to Brand After Generic or Authorized Generic Utilization.ClinicoEconomics and outcomes research : CEOR · 2022Article
- Switching from Biologic to Biosimilar Products: Insight from an Integrated Health Care System.BioDrugs : clinical immunotherapeutics, biopharmaceuticals and gene therapy · 2022Article
- Knowledge, perceptions and practices of pharmacists regarding generic substitution in China: a cross-sectional study.BMJ open · 2021Article
- Dispensing and Variabilities in Pricing of Headache OTC Medicines by Community Pharmacies in a German Big City: A Simulated Patient Approach.ClinicoEconomics and outcomes research : CEOR · 2021Article
- Patients' beliefs and behaviours are associated with perceptions of safety and concerns in a hypothetical biosimilar switch.Rheumatology international · 2021Article
- Opinion of patients seeking primary care regarding prescription of generic drugs: A cross-sectional study.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2020Article
- Quantification of Adverse Drug Reactions Related to Drug Switches in The Netherlands.Clinical and translational science · 2020Article
- Generic versus brand-name over-the-counter analgesics: knowledge and attitudes among Swedish pharmacy customers.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2020Article
- The Brazilian private pharmaceutical market after the first ten years of the generics law.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2019Article
- Greek students' attitudes, perception and knowledge regarding generic medicines in times of economic crisis: a cross-sectional study.BMC medical education · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectiveConsiderable emphasis is placed on the use of generic medicines because of the potential economic benefits associated with their use. The objective of this systematic review is to compile and collate published research regarding patient/consumer perceptions and attitudes in relation to generic medicines, aiming to describe such views and detail patient experiences with generic medicines.
methodsLiterature published between 2005 and July 2015, indexed in PubMed, Scopus and EMBASE, on the topic of consumer or patient opinions of generic medicines were collated, using systematic searches, and appraised.
resultsA total of 59 papers were reviewed. Familiarity and trust in brand names appears to be a substantial barrier to the increased use of generics, with patients also appearing to hold the view that if a product is cheaper, then it must not be as good. Some publications report positive views of generics, with positively inclined consumers stating that they did not perceive any difference between a generic and the proprietary medicine. Acceptance of generics appears to be higher in consumers with higher levels of education while patients from lower socioeconomic demographic groups tend to have greater mistrust of generics.
conclusionsThe provision of information to consumers that dispels myths about generics may improve confidence in generic medicines. As patients demonstrate a high degree of trust in physicians, their opinions can impact on patient/consumer opinions. Therefore, enhancing the perceptions of generics held by physicians is likely to have a positive impact on patient/consumer opinions of, and trust in, generic medications.
Indexed as
Identifiers
27142371What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.