Perception of generic prescription drugs and utilization of generic drug discount programs

Objective: Our study aimed to assess patient's perceptions of generic drugs and utilization of generic drug discount programs. Design, Setting and Participants: A survey was administered to adult participants at community health centers and community-based organizations in Houston, Texas, USA (n=525). Main Outcome Measures: Multivariate logistic regression was used to quantify the strength of association between generic drug perception and utilization of generic drug discount programs. Results: Respondents who agreed that "Generic prescription drugs are as effective as brand name prescription drugs," were 3 times as likely to utilize generic drug discount programs (AOR: 3.0, 95% CI: 1.8-4.8, P<.001). Compared to non-Hispanic Whites, African Americans (OR: 10.2; 95% CI: 1.4-76.4) and Hispanics (OR: 10.3; 95% CI: 1.3-79.4) were 10 times as likely to agree that generic drugs have more side effects than brand name drugs. Conclusion: Race/ethnicity had no impact in utilization of generic drug discount programs, despite racial disparities in perception toward generic drugs' side effects and generic drugs being inferior to brand name drugs.