Patient satisfaction towards dental services among secondary school students in Makambako town, Iringa Tanzania

Abstract

Aim: To assess patient satisfaction on dental services among secondary school students. Design: Cross-sectional study. Study participants: 200 Secondary school students in Makambako township randomly selected from school class registers. Methods: Self-administered structured questionnaire in a class room. Reliability of the questionnaire determined by Cronbach’s alpha. Differences in patient satisfaction by demographic variables were determined by ÷2 statistic, significant level set at p< 0.05. Relative contribution of each aspect of oral care to patient satisfaction was determined by Spearman correlation coefficients and mean scores. Results: All 200 sampled students filled in questionnaires (100% response rate). Patient satisfaction was moderate (mean=2.81; se=0.05). Appearance of clinic staff, Cleanliness of clinic environment and Waiting time had the highest mean satisfaction scores {3.23 (0.04); 3.21 (0.04) and 3.10 (0.07)} respectively. Infection control, respect shown by clinic staff, and handling of patients by staff had highest correlation coefficients with patient satisfaction (0.585, 0.581 and 0.581 respectively). Cost of treatment had the lowest mean score of 1.34 (se=0.05) and correlation coefficient (0.199) with patient satisfaction. Rural residents were more satisfied with waiting time than urban residents (÷2 = 6.719; p = 0.01). Conclusion: Secondary school students were moderately satisfied with oral care. Appearance of clinic staff and cleanliness of clinic environment were the most satisfying aspects of oral care. Cost of oral care and infection control were the most dissatisfying aspects of oral care. We recommend education to the public on the importance of cost sharing in health and reviewing cost of treatment in favour of patients.

Key words: satisfaction, quality of dental care, secondary school students