title: Perception of generic prescription drugs and utilization of generic drug discount programs.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Our study aimed to assess patient's perceptions of generic drugs and utilization of generic drug discount programs.
  
  
  METHODS
  A survey was administered to adult participants at community health centers and community-based organizations in Houston, Texas, USA (n=525).
  
  
  METHODS
  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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Disparities Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030-4009, USA. aomoja@aol.com
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Omojasola
authors.forename: Mike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hernandez
authors.forename: Sujit
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sansgiry
authors.forename: Lovell
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jones
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001290:Attitude; D017046:Cost Savings; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D016568:Drugs, Generic / Q000191:economics*; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007356:Insurance, Pharmaceutical Services / Q000191:economics; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055553:Prescription Drugs / Q000191:economics*; D013781:Texas; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D016568:Drugs, Generic; D055553:Prescription Drugs