OBJECTIVES: Generic drugs are bioequivalent and cost effective alternatives to brand name drugs. In 2014, $227 billion was saved because of generic drugs in the U.S. To inform the development of educational outreach for improving generic drug use among patients, we sought to critically assess evidence on the association between patient characteristics and generic drug use. METHODS: We systematically searched the literature between January 2005 and December 2015 using PubMed, Web of Science, OVID-Medline, Google Scholar, and EBSCO IRA-Medline for potentially relevant studies. The titles and abstracts of identified articles were assessed independently by two reviewers. Titles and abstracts that were not written in English, published prior to 2005, not empirical, did not contain sociodemographic data, or were not policy or methodologically relevant to generic drug use were excluded. Data were pooled in meta-analysis using Rstudio software to assess the association of patient-related factors with generic drug use. RESULTS: Our searches resulted in 11 articles on patient-level factors, and 6 of these articles had sufficient information to conduct meta-analyses in the domains of patient sex, age, race/ethnicity, and income. Quantitative analysis indicated no differences in generic drug use existed between subgroups of patients defined by sex, age, or race/ethnicity. However, patients with lower income (i.e., <200% federal poverty level (FPL)) were more likely to use generic drugs than those with higher income (≥200% FPL) (pooled odds ratio (OR) = 1.32, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.15–1.52). Heterogeneity was high (I > 75%) for all analyses but income. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with lower income were more likely to use generic drugs, whereas we don’t have adequate evidence to draw conclusion on the association of generic use with sex, age, or race/ethnicity. Educational outreach targeting patients with higher incomes to understand their perspectives in generic drugs might help improve generic drug use.