Assessing Knowledge and Attitude of Healthcare Professionals on Biosimilars: A National Survey for Pharmacists and Physicians in Taiwan
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Design
2.2. Participants
2.3. Survey Administration
2.4. Data Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Demographics
3.2. Knowledge
- Q6. Which of the following is the correct definition of biosimilars?
- Q7. Which of the following regarding the clinical trial requirements for biosimilars in Taiwan is correct?
- Q8. Which is the correct statement regarding approved indications for biosimilars in Taiwan?
- Q9. Which of the following best describes the physiochemical/functional analysis of biosimilars required by regulations?
Full Score n (%) | 95% CI | p-Value | |
---|---|---|---|
Specialty | 0.88 | ||
Pharmacy | 25 (15.2) | (9.7–20.7) | |
Oncology | 16 (13.1) | (7.1–20.7) | |
Rheumatology | 15 (13.9) | (7.4–20.4) | |
Gender | 0.36 | ||
Male | 38 (15.4) | (10.9–20.0) | |
Female | 17 (12.1) | (6.7–17.4) | |
Age group | 0.82 | ||
20–39 | 14 (15.6) | (8.1–23.0) | |
40–49 | 23 (13.2) | (8.1–18.2) | |
50–59 | 15 (16.1) | )8.7–23.6) | |
60+ | 4 (10.8) | (0.8–20.8) | |
Hospital types | 0.004 * | ||
Medical center | 30 (20.8) | (14.2–27.5) | |
Regional hospital | 26 (10.4) | [6.6–14.1] | |
Regions | 0.21 | ||
North | 29 (15.5) | (10.5–21.0) | |
Central | 8 (8.4) | (2.8–14.0) | |
South | 15 (15.5) | (0.8–22.7) |
3.3. Attitudes
- Q10. I possess a good understanding of biosimilar products.
- Q11. Generally, I feel comfortable prescribing biosimilars to patients because I am confident about their safety and efficacy.
- Q12. The nonproprietary name of biosimilars should be distinguishable from the reference product.
- Q13. If necessary, I accept the switch to a biosimilar product for patients receiving treatment of its reference product.
- Q14. I would only prescribe a biosimilar product to those who have never received treatment with its reference drug (i.e., biologic-naïve).
- Q15. I am familiar with the regulations of the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) on biosimilars.
- Q16. The non-proprietary name of biosimilars should not be distinguishable from the reference product (respondent reliability test).
3.4. Knowledge and Attitudes
4. Discussion
Limitations and Future Perspectives
5. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Characteristics | Pharmacists n = 164 (41.5%) | Oncologists n = 123 (31.1%) | Rheumatologists n = 108 (27.4%) | Total | Total [95% CI] | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
n | % | n | % | n | % | n | % | ||
Gender | |||||||||
Male | 65 | 39.6 | 104 | 84.6 | 78 | 72.2 | 247 | 62.5 | 57.7–67.2 |
Female | 95 | 58.0 | 17 | 13.8 | 29 | 26.9 | 141 | 35.7 | 31.0–40.4 |
Prefer not to say | 4 | 2.4 | 2 | 1.6 | 1 | 0.9 | 7 | 1.8 | 0.5–3.1 |
Age (years) | |||||||||
20–39 | 38 | 23.2 | 29 | 23.6 | 23 | 21.3 | 90 | 22.8 | 18.7–26.9 |
40–49 | 73 | 44.5 | 57 | 46.3 | 45 | 41.7 | 175 | 44.3 | 39.4–49.2 |
50–59 | 47 | 28.6 | 20 | 16.3 | 26 | 24 | 93 | 23.5 | 19.3–27.7 |
60+ | 6 | 3.7 | 17 | 13.8 | 14 | 13 | 37 | 9.4 | 6.5–12.3 |
Hospital type | |||||||||
Medical center | 54 | 32.9 | 47 | 38.2 | 43 | 39.8 | 144 | 36.5 | 31.8–41.2 |
Regional hospital | 110 | 67.1 | 76 | 61.8 | 65 | 60.2 | 251 | 63.5 | 58.8–68.2 |
Region | |||||||||
North | 81 | 49.4 | 56 | 45.5 | 47 | 43.5 | 184 | 47.0 | 41.7–51.5 |
Central | 40 | 24.4 | 26 | 21.2 | 29 | 26.9 | 91 | 23.0 | 18.8–27.2 |
South | 35 | 21.3 | 34 | 27.6 | 29 | 26.9 | 98 | 25.0 | 20.5–29.1 |
East | 8 | 4.9 | 7 | 5.7 | 3 | 2.7 | 18 | 5.0 | 2.5–6.7 |
Attitude Statements | n (% within Respondents with Full Score) | p-Value | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Disagree | Neutral | Agree | ||
Q10. I possess a good understanding of biosimilar products. | 4 (7.1) | 9 (16.1) | 43 (76.8) | 0.05 |
Q11. Generally, I feel comfortable prescribing biosimilars to patients because I am confident about their safety and efficacy. | 9 (16.1) | 9 (16.1) | 38 (67.8) | 0.02 * |
Q12. The nonproprietary name of biosimilars should be distinguishable from the reference product. | 7 (12.5) | 1 (1.8) | 48 (85.7) | 0.07 |
Q13. If necessary, I accept the switch to a biosimilar product for patients receiving treatment of its reference product. | 16 (28.6) | 10 (17.9) | 30 (53.5) | 0.42 |
Q14. I would only prescribe a biosimilar product to those who have never received treatment with its reference drug (i.e., biologic-naïve). | 22 (39.3) | 12 (21.4) | 22 (39.3) | 0.48 |
Q15. I am familiar with the regulations of the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) on biosimilars. | 11 (19.6) | 12 (21.4) | 33 (58.9) | 0.01 * |
Q16. The non-proprietary name of biosimilar drugs should not be distinguishable from the reference product (respondent reliability). | 46 (82.1) | 3 (5.4) | 7(12.5) | 0.17 |
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Poon, S.Y.-K.; Hsu, J.C.; Ko, Y.; Chiang, S.-C. Assessing Knowledge and Attitude of Healthcare Professionals on Biosimilars: A National Survey for Pharmacists and Physicians in Taiwan. Healthcare 2021, 9, 1600. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9111600
Poon SY-K, Hsu JC, Ko Y, Chiang S-C. Assessing Knowledge and Attitude of Healthcare Professionals on Biosimilars: A National Survey for Pharmacists and Physicians in Taiwan. Healthcare. 2021; 9(11):1600. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9111600
Chicago/Turabian StylePoon, Samantha Yun-Kai, Jason C. Hsu, Yu Ko, and Shao-Chin Chiang. 2021. "Assessing Knowledge and Attitude of Healthcare Professionals on Biosimilars: A National Survey for Pharmacists and Physicians in Taiwan" Healthcare 9, no. 11: 1600. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9111600