2020 Volume 46 Issue 11 Pages 640-646
Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the awareness and attitude of generic drugs (GD) in a remote area.
Methods: We conducted a questionnaire survey in a remote clinic during November-December 2018. We excluded patients who did not meet the eligibility criteria (patients with dementia including mild cognitive decline, pediatric patients, or psychiatric patients).
Results: Of 285 respondents, 162 (57％) were aware of GD. Of all respondents, 239 (84％) agreed to adopt GD, 30 (11％) disagreed, and 16 (5％) didn’t answer. Ninety nine (35％) respondents had anxiety about GD. Aging was significantly associated with lowered awareness of GD (adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 4.08, 95％ confidence intervals (CI) 2.22 to 7.51). The anxiety of GD was significantly associated with lowered willingness for generic substitution (adjusted OR = 0.0358, 95％ CI 0.00753 to 0.171).
Conclusion: In remote Japan, awareness of GD was still low. Our findings suggest that higher age was related to the lower awareness of GD. Anxiety about GD was related to a passive attitude towards the use of GD.
