Background: To reduce the increasing cost for pharmaceuticals on prescription in Sweden, the generic drug exchange was introduced in 2002. According to the law (2002:160) of drug benefits all pharmacies are forced to exchange the brand-name product/original for a generic drug, i.e. a drug that is covered by the Swedish drug benefit system and in addition has been found by The Swedish Medical Products Agency (MPA) to be equivalent to the brand-name product/original in question. The Dental and Pharmaceutical Benefits Agency, TLV, determines which available drug is the lowest price, "the product of the period". The reform has led to major economic savings for both the individual and the society. For some patients the generic drug exchange has resulted in increased safety problems in the form of medication errors, lack of drug effects, and new unwanted side effects. Insufficient information from prescribers and pharmacists and different names of drugs has led to confusion among patients. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to investigate the customers' experience of the generic drug exchange at pharmacies, the potential problems of generic exchange, and whether any differences in how the generic drug exchange is experienced can be explained by the customer's level of education. Method: The investigation was conducted as a survey, which consisted of 10 different multiple choice questions where the respondent was able to choose the answer best in line with their perception. Results and discussion: The majority (87%) of the participants stated that they had accepted the generic exchange. In general, there was no apparent difference in regards to the different levels of education. Nevertheless, among those with university/college as the highest level of education, there was a greater proportion of women (45%) than men (29%). A small percentage (22%) of the participants had experienced problems in connection with or after the exchange. Among the problems mentioned were, among other things, unknown name, tablet, or packaging; and new side effects. 42% of the participants had received information about the generic drug exchange from the medical doctors while 90% of the participants had received information at the pharmacy. No difference between different groups could be detected. The overall experience with the generic exchange showed that 81% of participants were satisfied with the exchange. No difference between different groups could be detected. Conclusion: The study showed that the main part of the (survey) participants has a positive attitude towards generic exchange. The majority of the participants felt that they had gotten adequate information regarding the exchange at the pharmacy (from the pharmacist), whilst the survey revealed that the medical doctors was insufficient in informing their patients about the possibility of generic exchange. There was no apparent difference amongst different groups when it comes to acceptance and general perception of the generic drug exchange.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:lnu-74532 |
| Date | January 2018 |
| Creators | Durmo, Daniela |
| Publisher | Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för kemi och biomedicin (KOB) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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