Perceptions of the population regarding generic drugs in Brazil: a nationwide survey.

BACKGROUND: Generic drugs (GDs) offer a way to reduce health spending without sacrificing quality. Despite this, there are doubts as to their acceptance by the population. This work aims to assess perceptions of GDs among the Brazilian population. METHODS: We conducted a national household survey face-to-face between April and May 2013, with 5000 individuals aged over 15 years. The questions explored socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, the use of GDs, and perceptions about GDs as compared to brand drugs (BDs). The chi-square test was used to examine the associations between the perceptions and the characteristics of the population. RESULTS: Of the 5000 participants, 51.3% were women, 40.2% were white, 48.6% were between 15 and 34 years of age, and 52.3% had income of less than two minimum wages (US$627.78). In terms of the use of GDs, 44.6% of the participants were taking or had taken GDs in the past three months, with the highest figures among the elderly (61.1%) and female (49.2%) populations. Regarding perceptions, 30.4% of the respondents considered GDs less effective than BDs; provided the same price, 59% would prefer BD, and 45.8% agreed that physicians prefer to prescribe GDs. The most negative perceptions about GDs were observed among lower income, elderly and nonwhite populations. CONCLUSION: The findings provide a better understanding of Brazilians' perceptions regarding GDs. This should be considered when formulating healthcare policies aiming at improving access to effective and quality drugs, and reduction of health costs.

Internal Consistency of the SF-6D as a Health Status Index in the Brazilian Urban Population.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the internal consistency of the SF-6D as a health status index in the Brazilian urban population. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional population based study. METHODS: Five thousand individuals, older than the age of 15, were assessed in the five regions of the country. Two different methods of scoring the SF-6D where compared: "weighting the items" of the questionnaire through the Brazilian official weight coefficients, and "unweighting the items" through a parallel non preference scoring rule solely based on patients' answers to SF-6D health classification system (SF-6DHSI). Principal component factor analysis was used for the development of the SF-6DHSI. Pearson's, Spearman's, and intraclass correlation coefficients were used to assess the psychometric properties. RESULTS: The SF-6DHSI scoring formula summarized the pattern of factor loadings and the item-internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.858). The scale showed good item-internal consistency, exceeding the 0.70 standard. The association between weighted and unweighted (SF-6DHSI) scores was extremely high (Spearman's ρ = 0.971). The correlations of the SF-6DHSI with the Physical Component of the 12-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12) and the Health Assessment Questionnaire was moderate to strong. The intraclass correlation coefficient obtained (0.917) also suggested that the concordance between the weighted and unweighted score distributions was prominent. CONCLUSIONS: A nonweighted approach to score the SF-6D provides a reliable global measure of health status. The SF-6D health classification system is useful for assessing quality of life in a large and representative sample of the Brazilian population.