Factors Influencing Patient Waiting Time in Emergency Department of Khunyangu Sub-County Hospital, Busia Kenya

Abstract

Background: Waiting time remains an important indicator of quality health services. The emergency department is the most critical area  of any hospital. For patients who are in urgent need of hospitalization, delayed admission often leads to exacerbation of the patient's  condition and may threaten the patient's life. In recent years, the flow of patients to the Emergency Departments of Western countries  has steadily increased thus generating overcrowding and extended waiting times. Developing countries face daily challenges in the  Emergency Department through huge exposure to several patients seen per day on average. The study therefore sought to establish  factors influencing patient waiting time in the emergency department of Khuyangu Sub-County Hospital, Busia Kenya.

Material and  Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional research design guided the conduct of this study. Data collection was conducted on 191 patients  and healthcare workers over four weeks using an interviewer-administered pretested structured questionnaire. Both descriptive statistics  and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. To establish associations between the independent variable and  dependent variables, correlations and cross-tabulations were used. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine the influence of  independent variables on the dependent variable.

Findings: The findings demonstrated an R-squared value of 0.368. It was observed that  there was a weak positive correlation that was statistically significant (r=.281, N=191, p=.000) between the availability of healthcare  workers at their workstations and waiting time. There was a weak positive correlation that was also statistically significant (r=.228, N=191,  p=.002) between communication on waiting time in areas where there was no health worker to attend to the patient and the waiting  time.

Conclusion and recommendations: The findings can be used to develop waiting time guidelines and improve waiting in the ED.  This study recommends that hospital management should address the identified causes of delay to enable patients to get timely services.  In addition, healthcare workers should be available at their workstations. Additional research is necessary to further evaluate  the impact and utility of the emergency department.