Main Article Content
Assessment of patient’s satisfaction with healthcare services obtained from a tertiary hospital in southeast Nigeria
Abstract
Background: Periodic assessment of the services in health facilities will enable health policy makers to identify deficiencies and improve on the quality of health services rendered. Evaluation of patients’ satisfaction is one of the ways of doing this assessment. Only few studies have addressed this issue in sub-Saharan Africa.
Materials/Method: A semi-structured pre-tested questionnaire was administered to 406 consenting patients in the medical and surgical wards of Abia Specialist Hospital and Diagnostic Centre, Umuahia, South-East Nigeria.
Results: There were more males (210) than females (196). Up to 79.8% of the patients were satisfied with services rendered at the hospital. There was a significant positive correlation between the satisfaction scores and number of times a patient was seen by the doctor or nurse (r = 0.315, p<0.001) and a significant negative correlation between the satisfaction scores and total duration of stay in emergency unit (r = -0.524, p<0.001). Patients who were satisfied had a lower mean pre-intervention waiting time at the accident and emergency or outpatient clinic than patients who were not satisfied (12.4±6.6 vs 15.7±8.0 minutes respectively) and this was statistically significant (t= 3.40, p=0.001). Multivariate logistic regression showed that the educational level of the patients (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]=2.27, p=0.024), number of times seen by the doctors ( AOR = 4.09, p<0.001), pre-intervention waiting time (AOR=2.84, p<0.001) and outcome of treatment (AOR= 5.29, p<0.001) were the determinants of patients’ satisfaction.
Conclusion: Most patients were satisfied with services at the medical and surgical wards of this hospital. The determinants of this satisfaction include educational level of the patients, the number of times the patient is seen by doctors or nurses, pre-intervention waiting time and outcome of treatment.
Materials/Method: A semi-structured pre-tested questionnaire was administered to 406 consenting patients in the medical and surgical wards of Abia Specialist Hospital and Diagnostic Centre, Umuahia, South-East Nigeria.
Results: There were more males (210) than females (196). Up to 79.8% of the patients were satisfied with services rendered at the hospital. There was a significant positive correlation between the satisfaction scores and number of times a patient was seen by the doctor or nurse (r = 0.315, p<0.001) and a significant negative correlation between the satisfaction scores and total duration of stay in emergency unit (r = -0.524, p<0.001). Patients who were satisfied had a lower mean pre-intervention waiting time at the accident and emergency or outpatient clinic than patients who were not satisfied (12.4±6.6 vs 15.7±8.0 minutes respectively) and this was statistically significant (t= 3.40, p=0.001). Multivariate logistic regression showed that the educational level of the patients (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]=2.27, p=0.024), number of times seen by the doctors ( AOR = 4.09, p<0.001), pre-intervention waiting time (AOR=2.84, p<0.001) and outcome of treatment (AOR= 5.29, p<0.001) were the determinants of patients’ satisfaction.
Conclusion: Most patients were satisfied with services at the medical and surgical wards of this hospital. The determinants of this satisfaction include educational level of the patients, the number of times the patient is seen by doctors or nurses, pre-intervention waiting time and outcome of treatment.
