| dc.description.abstract | The research objectives for the study were to assess medical doctors’ perceptions and
attitudes towards generic drugs available at the Aga Khan University Hospital and to
establish the factors which influence the prescription of generic drugs. The findings would
benefit a number of groups of people/sectors. These include the government, manufacturers of generic drugs, Kenya Medical Association and the general academia.
The study employed a descriptive research design. A descriptive research collects data and characteristics about the population or phenomenon being studied. The population for the study comprised medical doctors who worked at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi. A convenient sample of 33 completed a semi-structured questionnaire. Part A of the questionnaire gathered data on the profile of the respondents. Part B and C elicited
information that addressed research objectives of the study. Data analysis involved editing, tabulation and computation of descriptive statistics using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and the Microsoft Excel Spreadsheets Application. All the respondents indicated that they had recommended usage of generic drugs before, with 60% of the doctors indicating that they had made a prescription for a generic drug on the particular day they were completing the questionnaire. The attitudes and perceptions based on product benefits revealed that the respondents to a large extent (mean score of 4 on a scale ranging from 1 to 5) agreed that generic drugs are cost effective, of high quality, and are as effective as the branded drugs. The only benefit aspect that they moderately (mean score of 3) agreed to was with packaging materials. The research results therefore generally reflected the common practice in the marketing of generic
drugs. Generic drugs are also perceived to be frequently (mean score of 3) as effective as, but much cheaper than, brand-name drugs. In terms of place (distribution) aspects, the respondents to a large extent (mean score of 4) agreed that generic brands penetrated the pharmaceutical market due to aggressive marketing. The respondents to a larger extent (70%) agreed that generic drugs are cheaper than branded ones while they moderately (60%) agreed that generic drugs offer value for money. Of the various promotion activities used to promote generic drugs, free samples were used to a large extent, followed by sponsorships. However, write-ups and advertising were used to a moderate extent. Hospital formulary, experience with a particular drug, origin of a particular drug, insurance coverage of the patient, and patients’ own inclination were considered to influence the usage of generic drugs to a large extent. Overall, it can be argued that the organizations to a moderate extent influence the prescription of drugs.
Since the current study was based on respondents working at the Aga Khan University
Hospital in Nairobi the results might not be entirely representative. Therefore a much broader research should be conducted in other hospitals to determine whether the same results would be found. | en |
