Table1_Generic switching: Do future physicians in Jordan have enough knowledge and a positive attitude?.DOCX

Background: Generic switching is a policy that has shown success in minimising pharmaceutical costs. It has also been used to mitigate recurrent and sudden drug shortages. Not all countries have policies that allow pharmacists to switch to generic drugs independently. In Jordan, only pharmacists at Ministry of Health hospitals automatically switch to generics if doctors had not already done INN prescribing.Objectives: This study targeted medical students to assess their experience with generic switching as patients, their knowledge of the subject as students, and their attitude towards it as future prescribers and policymakers.Methods: This is a descriptive, cross-sectional study conducted online. Eligibility criteria were being a fourth, fifth, or sixth-year medical school student enrolled at any of the six Jordanian universities. The questionnaire was developed by the researchers after a careful review of the relevant literature.Results: Three hundred and ninety students responded to the online questionnaire. Most participants were females (244, 62.6%), senior students in their final (6th) year (162, 41.5%) and with very good academic achievement (166, 42.6%). The highest knowledge scores concerned patient rights (0.73/1.00), followed by knowledge about monitoring after generic switching (0.66/1.00), and patients with known drug allergies (0.66/1.00). Almost half of the participants believe that pharmacists should not be given the right to do generic switching and only 16% stated that they would choose generic drugs if they needed treatment in the future. Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that significant predictors of knowledge were gender, GPA, and family income. No correlations were found between participants’ knowledge scores and their attitudes towards giving pharmacists the right to independently switch drugs, or whether they would accept a substitute from pharmacists rather than having to refer to the physician.Conclusion: Medical students in Jordan lack sufficient knowledge about generic switching. Students need to be more aware of the current policies and regulations of this practice, and the role of each healthcare worker involved in it. They also need to have a more positive attitude toward generic drugs and generic switching practice to facilitate its future implementation.

背景：通用药物切换策略已被证明在降低药品成本方面取得了显著成效，同时亦被应用于缓解药物短缺的反复与突发状况。并非所有国家均设有允许药剂师独立切换至通用药物的相应政策。在约旦，仅限于卫生部的医院药剂师在医生未预先进行国际非专利名称（INN）处方的情况下，自动切换至通用药物。目标：本研究针对医学院学生，旨在评估他们在作为患者时的通用药物切换体验、作为学生对该主题的知识，以及作为未来处方者和政策制定者对该策略的态度。方法：这是一项在线进行的描述性横断面研究。入选标准为第四、五或六年级的医学院学生，就读于约旦的六所大学之一。问卷由研究人员在仔细审查相关文献后编制。结果：共有390名学生参与了在线问卷调查。大多数参与者为女性（244名，占62.6%），为即将毕业的六年级学生（162名，占41.5%），并且学术成绩优异（166名，占42.6%）。知识得分最高的方面是患者权利（0.73/1.00），其次是通用药物切换后的监测知识（0.66/1.00），以及已知药物过敏的患者（0.66/1.00）。近一半的参与者认为药剂师不应获得进行通用药物切换的权利，仅有16%的受访者表示，如果未来需要治疗，他们将选择通用药物。多元线性回归分析显示，性别、GPA（平均绩点）和家庭收入是知识的重要预测因子。未发现参与者的知识得分与其对药剂师独立切换药物权利的态度，或他们是否愿意接受药剂师提供的替代药物而不是必须咨询医生之间存在相关性。结论：约旦的医学院学生在通用药物切换方面的知识不足。学生需要更加关注当前该实践的政策和法规，以及涉及其中的每位医疗工作者的角色。他们还需要对通用药物和通用药物切换实践持有更积极的态度，以促进其未来的实施。