The prevalence of Philippine prescribing, dispensing, and use behavior in relation to generic drugs and their risk factors

This study was designed to address the issue of compliance of physicians and drug stores to the provisions of Generics Act of 1988. Furthermore it aims to explore the awareness of consumers on generic medicines to explain current trends and practices in drug prescribing, dispensing and use. The study utilized a cross-sectional design. It is a descriptive study that assessed four variables: generic drug prescription, generic drug substitution/dispensing, price menu cards, and use of generic drugs. The country was divided into 6 zones, namely: North Luzon, South Luzon, NCR, Visayas, Mindanao and ARMM. Stratified cluster random sampling was used to identify which provinces and cities would be included in the study. Data collection techniques used include the following: a survey of consumers coming out of a drugstore (a total of 1,160 respondents), key informant interview of 30 physicians, and focus group discussion with 6 to 11 patients/watchers per zone. ...