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Table 2 Mean percentage availability of surveyed medicines in retail pharmacies

From: Evaluating availability and price of essential medicines in Boston area (Massachusetts, USA) using WHO/HAI methodology

 

Prescription medicines

Over-the-counter medicines

Originator Brand % (number of pharmacies)

Generic % (number of pharmacies)

Originator Brand % (number of pharmacies)

Generic % (number of pharmacies)

Chain

52.7 % (n = 8)

78.6 % (n = 8)

80.9 % (n = 10)

94.5 % (n = 10)

Independent

28.6 % (n = 6)

76.6 % (n = 6)

63.6 % (n = 7)

72.7 % (n = 7)

Overall

42.3 % (n = 14)

78.6 % (n = 14)

73.8 % (n = 17)

85.6 % (n = 17)

  1. Overall mean availability of originator brand (OB) and generic equivalent (GE) versions of over-the counter (OTC) medicines is not statistically different (p-value = 0.24). However, the overall mean availability of OB and GE versions of prescription medicines is statistically different (p-value < 0.001). Availability of OB and GE versions of matched pairs was not statistically different (p-value > 0.05) from each other for neither OTC nor prescription medicines, in both chain and independent pharmacies. Mean availability of GE of OTC medicines was statistically different (p-value = 0.01) in chain and independent pharmacies. There was no statistically significant difference (p-value = 1.0) in mean availability of GE of prescription medicines among chain and independent pharmacies. The mean availability of OB version were statistically different among chain and independent pharmacies, in case of both OTC (p-value = 0.001) and prescription (p-value < 0.001) medicines