Medical and pharmacy students' knowledge and perceptions about generic medicines in Bangladesh

Abstract Objective To explore medical and pharmacy students' knowledge and perception towards the use of generic medicines in Bangladesh. Method A convenience sample was drawn from six Bangladeshi universities/medical colleges using an 18-item questionnaire. A total of n = 398 pharmacy and medical students were approached to participate. Scoring of responses was done for the 10 items in the perception section (score range 0–10). Data was analysed using SPSS version 13 and the difference among the groups were estimated using independent samples t-test. Results A total of 346 students willingly participated in this study, which amounted to a response rate of 86.93%. About 85.5% of the respondents indicated that they had heard about generic and branded medicines. From both groups 70–80% were able to distinguish between generic and branded medicines. There were significant differences in knowledge among the pharmacy (4.86 ± 1.55) and medical (4.20 ± 1.62) students (P 0.001, t = 3.83, 95% confidence interval 0.323–1.00). Conclusion Overall, there were knowledge deficits in both groups with a moderate level of perception about generic medicine.