Effect of Pharmacist-Led Educational Intervention on Switching to Generic Medicine Among Patients Using Brand-Name...

The use of generic medicines (GEs) is being promoted to reduce healthcare costs. This study aims to evaluate the effect of a pharmacist-led educational intervention on the number of patients switching from brand-name medicines to GEs among patients who preferred brand-name products. Pharmacists provided a standardized explanation using pamphlets about GEs to patients who wished to use brand-name medicines and allocated time to answer questions. Basic knowledge about GEs (nine items) and perceptions of GE use (three items) were assessed before and after the intervention to determine whether changes influenced switching behavior. Between 1 March and 30 July 2025, 40 patients were enrolled in the analysis. Following the intervention, the number of patients using one or more brand-name medicines significantly decreased to 25. Knowledge and perceptions of GEs significantly increased after the intervention and were associated with an increased rate of switching to GEs. Binominal logistic regression analysis identified age ≥ 65 years as a strong factor associated with preference for brand-name medicines (OR, 16.45; 95% CI, 1.48-182.65; p = 0.02). These findings indicate that pharmacist-led educational interventions are effective in promoting GE use among patients who prefer brand-name medicines. In the future, we plan to conduct comparative studies with a control group to further investigate the factors that lead to patients strongly preferring the use of brand-name medicines.