Trust in the approval process of medicines mediates the effect of an educational intervention on the pain relief induced by a generic analgesic.

BACKGROUND: Generic medicines have been associated with less efficacy compared to originator products. Educational videos explaining generic medicines can have a positive effect on perceptions of generic drugs and their pain-relieving effect. The central aim of the current study was to examine whether trust in the governmental approval process of medicines mediates the effect of educational video interventions on the pain-relieving effect induced by a generic medicine and whether trust can be built by improving individuals' understanding of generic medication. METHODS: This is a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial where participants with frequent tension headaches were randomly assigned to either watching a video explaining generic drugs (n = 69) or a video informing about headaches (control group: n = 34). After watching the video, participants took an originator and a generic pain analgesic in a randomized order to treat their next two consecutive headaches. Pain severity was measured before and 1 h after taking the medicine. RESULTS: A multiple serial mediator model showed that improving individuals' understanding of generic medicines is associated with increased trust in medicines. Both factors together, understanding and trust, significantly mediated the effect of the video education about generic drugs on the generic's pain-relieving effect (total indirect effect: coefficient: 0.20, 95% CI: 0.42, -0.0001). CONCLUSION: Results of this study show that improving individuals' understanding of generic medication and trust in the process of approving medicines should be considered as important mechanisms of future educational interventions about generic medicines.