The Impact of Generic Substitution on Health and Economic Outcomes: A Systematic Review

Table 4 Economic outcome comparisons (study references in square brackets)

Economic outcomes	De novo patients starting on generics		Maintenance patients switching to generics		Total n = 8
	n = 1 study		n = 7 studies
	Evidence supporting generic use	Evidence opposing generic use	Evidence supporting generic use	Evidence opposing generic use
Drug costs of investigated drug	–	1	7	–	8
Drug costs of investigated drug	–	[38]	[30, 31, 36, 44, 46, 48, 58]	–	8
Drug costs of concomitant medication	–	1	–	4	5
Drug costs of concomitant medication	–	[38]	–	[30, 31, 46, 58]	5
Outpatient services costs	–	1	–	3	4
		[38]		3
		[38]		[31, 46, 58]
Inpatient services costs	–	1	–	3	4
Inpatient services costs	–	[38]	–	[31, 44, 46]	4
Co-payments	–	–	1	–	1
Co-payments	–	–	[48]	–	1
Overall evidence—economic outcomes	–	4	8	10	22