Knowledge and attitudes towards generic medicines: Point of view of older patients and their caregivers

Objectives: To evaluate the knowledge and attitudes of older patients and their caregivers towards generic drugs. Design: Cross-sectional multicentre study. Methods: Older patients or their caregivers from 15 Italian departments of geriatrics, internal medicine, and rehabilitation completed a structured questionnaire to investigate their attitude towards generic drugs. Results: Among 312 patients (53.8 % females, mean age 79 years) and 163 caregivers (62.8 % females, mean age 62.8 years), caregivers reported knowing what a generic drug is more frequently than patients (96 % vs 84 %), and only 17 % in both groups declared to be well-informed on the subject. Patients were more likely than caregivers to believe that generic drugs take longer to become effective (22 % vs 12 %), are made with lower-quality substances (27 % vs 9 %), and are less effective (43 % vs 28 %) compared to brand-name drugs. Conclusions: Knowledge about generic drugs remains limited; educational and promotional initiatives are necessary to dispel misconceptions regarding generic drugs.