"No generics, Doctor!" The perspective of general practitioners in two French regions.

BACKGROUND: Generic medicines are essential to controlling health expenditures. Their market share is still small in France. The discourse and practices of prescribers may play a major role in their use. The purpose of this study was to explore the knowledge, attitudes and practices of general practitioners (GPs) toward generic medicines in two French regions with the lowest penetration rate of these products. METHODS: An observational study was carried out from October 2015 to February 2016 in Guadeloupe and Martinique. The first qualitative phase involved a diversified sample of 14 GPs who underwent semi-structured interviews. The second phase involved a random sample of 316 GPs (response rate = 74%) who were administered a structured questionnaire developed from the results of the first phase. RESULTS: Seventy-eight percent of the participants defined a generic drug as a drug containing an active substance identical to a brand-name drug, but only 11% considered generic drugs to be equivalent to brand-name drugs, and the same proportion believed that the generic drugs were of doubtful quality. The primary recognized advantage of generic medicines was their lower cost (82%). The main drawbacks cited were the variability of their presentation (44%), the confusion that they caused for some patients (47%), frequent allegations of adverse side effects (37%) and a lack of efficacy (24%), and frequent refusal by patients (26%). Seventy-four percent of the participants stated that they adapted their prescribing practices to the situation, and of this group, 47% prescribed the originator product simply on demand. CONCLUSION: Most surveyed GPs were not hostile towards generic medicines. They were caught between the requirements of health insurance regimes and the opposition of numerous users and suggested that the patient information provided by health authorities should be improved and that drug composition and packaging should be made uniform.

Perceptions of overweight in a Caribbean population: the role of health professionals.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of obesity and its complications is particularly high in the Caribbean. Underestimation of weight status could explain the failure by subjects concerned to adopt behaviours complying with medical recommendations. Little research is available on the role of health professionals in overweight perception. OBJECTIVE: To examine relationships between overweight underestimation and lack of communication on overweight diagnosis by health professionals in a multicultural Caribbean population. METHODS: A cross-sectional study, lead in 2014 on a sample representative of the population of Saint-Martin (395 subjects, 25-74 years). Overweight perception was assessed on Likert scale. Corpulence was assessed from measured waist circumference (WC). Individuals with excess abdominal adiposity (WC ≥ 80cm for women, ≥ 94cm for men) but stating they did not feel overweight were considered to underestimate their weight status. Patient-reported lack of communication on their diagnosis by health professionals was likewise explored. Respondents' first language defined cultural community. Multivariate analysis used logistic regression. RESULTS: Among individuals presenting excessive WC, 4 out of 10 did not perceive themselves as overweight. Six out of 10 said they had never been told about their weight by a health professional, whether or not they had their weight and waist measured by their referring physician in the preceding year. Independently from WC, overweight underestimation was associated with lack of communication on overweight diagnosis for both sexes. For women, overweight underestimation was associated with belonging to the Creole community. CONCLUSION: Greater care is required when giving a diagnosis of overweight, particularly in social-cultural contexts where weight norms differ.