Patients' experiences with generic substitution-a Swedish pharmacy survey

• Background and objective Generic substitution for reimbursed drugs was introduced in Sweden 1 of October 2002. Concerns have been expressed that generic substitution may compromise patient safety. This study aimed to evaluate how Swedish drug consumers experience generic substitution, more than 5 year after implementation. Design Survey study with an electronic questionnaire, offered to 1551 pharmacy customers/patients presenting with a prescription on one of the 2688 drugs included. The selected drugs constituted 75% of the total volume of dispensed drugs subjected to generic substitution in August 2007.Setting Fifty-eight Swedish community pharmacies. Main outcome measures Positive experiences with generic substitution; problems and their degree of seriousness; and the reported incidence of medication errors. Consumers’ suggestions of improvements to the generic substitution system were also captured. Results Of 1551 respondents (602 male, 949 female), 35% (n = 536) reported one or more positive experiences, the most common being the lower drug price. Sixty percent (n= 932) claimed they had not experienced any problems. Forty percent reported at least one problem related to substitution. Seven percent (n=109) reported medication errors attributed to generic substitution. Twenty-two percent (n=342) of the respondents offered suggestions for improvement. The most common suggestions were to revise the criteria for assessing interchangeability between brand-name and generic alternatives and to abolish substitution.Conclusions A majority of respondents do not experience any problems related to generic substitution. A sizeable minority experience problems, partly resulting in medication errors. Over- and undermedication, lack of compliance, and intake of wrong drug or of both the original and the generic were the problems most often reported. Future system changes should consider the importance of revised criteria for generic and brand name interchangeability.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Medicinska och farmaceutiska grundvetenskaper -- Samhällsfarmaci och klinisk farmaci (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Basic Medicine -- Social and Clinical Pharmacy (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Community pharmacy

Drug-related problems

Patient behaviour

Pharmaceutical care issues

Prescribing

Community pharmacy services

Samhällsfarmaci

Pharmacology

Farmakologi

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