Psychosocial factors associated with the prescription of generic drugs

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate factors associated with "Generic drug prescription" (GDP) behaviour in Spain using the ASE (Attitude, Social Influence, Self-Efficacy) Model.

Methods: General Practitioners were sent a validated and anonymous questionnaire measuring the ASE and Motivation variables for GDP and their generic drug prescription percentage. Most (n=486; 61.98%) responded to this cross-sectional survey. The mean scores and the 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated. A binary logistic regression was used to identify the variables that best predict GDP behaviour.

Results: The main advantages and motivations for GDP were "saving money" and "protecting professional ethics". The greatest social influences were "doctors' personal preferences" and "authorities' pressure". GDP accounted for a scarce 15% of the total prescription. ASE and Motivation items were the best predictors: they explain 25% of being a 'high prescriber'. The highest prescribers were paediatricians (OR=5.07), workers in rural settings (OR=3.68) and professionals with high Motivation (OR=1.17) and Attitude (OR=1.11) scores.

Conclusions: GDP percentage is very low compared with other countries. Interventions to modify the Attitudes of Primary Care doctors towards generic drugs should be implemented. Better informed patients, longer doctor appointment times and more varied dosage forms of generic drugs would also facilitate improvements in GDP.