NCT01862406

The Impact of Generic Labels on Compliance

The Impact of Generic Labels on Consumption Dosage and Medication Compliance

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 101 (actual)
• Sponsor: Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 80 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Although generic drugs are pharmacologically equivalent to their brand-name counterparts, prejudices against the former remain strong among patients and doctors. In a randomized controlled field experiment, this research assesses the extent to which generic (versus brand-name) labels affect patients' consumption dosage, medication compliance and reported pain.

Detailed description

One hundred one patients scheduled to undergo invasive dental surgeries (i.e., dental implants) participated in the experiment. After dental surgery, patients were prescribed a once-daily analgesic regimen for up to 7 days. The intervention consisted of label manipulation. Patients were randomly assigned to either the brand-name analgesic or to its (purportedly) cheaper generic version. In reality, all participants obtained the same brand-name medication. The medication was provided at no cost, and patients were instructed to take the first pill while at the clinic. They were informed that they could (a) increase the dosage of the prescribed analgesic to twice daily if necessary and (b) stop taking the medication when no longer needed. Any other changes to the regimen were discouraged, and patients were instructed to consult with the dentist before any such changes. Telephone follow-ups were conducted at 24 hours, 4 days, and 7 days after surgery. Two main dependent variables were obtained: the number of prescribed analgesics consumed and the number of non-prescribed analgesics consumed. The patients also reported the pain felt during the period.

Conditions

• Generic Label
• Brand-name Label

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Label	Participants were presented with either a generic label or a brand-name label

Timeline

• Start date: 2010-10-01
• Primary completion: 2012-12-01
• Completion: 2012-12-01
• First posted: 2013-05-24
• Last updated: 2013-08-09