KNOWLEDGE AND PERCEPTIONS OF FINAL-YEAR MEDICAL STUDENTS IN YEMENI UNIVERSITIES ABOUT GENERIC MEDICINES

Objective: To investigate the knowledge and perceptions of final-year medical students in the Yemeni universities about generic medicines.Methods: A two-month cross-sectional survey was conducted among final-year medical students in three Yemeni universities; Sana’a University, University of Science and Technology and Thamar University in 2013.Results: One hundred and sixty-five medical students out of 270 responded to the present study, with a response rate of 61.1%. More than 60% of medical students were not introduced to bioequivalence of generic medicines during their undergraduate study, and 80.0% of them had a low desire to inquire about it during their study. In addition, more than 60.0% of them were unaware of the similarity of generic medicines to their brand equivalents in dosage form and dose. More than three-quarters of the medical students incorrectly perceived that generic medicines are inferior in quality (80.0%), less effective (58.0%) and with more side-effects (47.8%) than their brand equivalents. The medical students in the present disagreed about the need for more information on the safety and efficacy of generic medicines.Conclusions: Yemeni students need to further enhance their awareness and expand their knowledge about the concepts and principles of bioavailability and bioequivalence of generic medicines if they are to contribute appropriately to generic medicine use.