Annual academic session poster presentation abstracts 2016

Abstract

Due to the overcrowding in the hospital clinics patients spends much time waiting to get a clinic number to see the doctor and to collect medications from the pharmacy. OBJECTIVES: To determine whether the time patients spend in the clinic affect the overall patient satisfaction of clinic services. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among Type 2 Diabetic patients attending the diabetic clinic in a tertiary care hospital in Colombo. 367 patients were included by randomly selecting 20 patients per day for 3 consecutive weeks. Data was collected through an interviewer-administered questionnaire. RESULTS: Women accounted for 75.9% of the study sample and 50% of patients were in the age range of 60-80 years. Only 25% of the patients were employed. On average, patients spent 62 min (SD+47.6) to obtain a clinic number, 74 min (SD+57.5) to be seen by a doctor and 47.5 min (SD+ 26.9) to collect the medicines from the pharmacy. The mean time taken by a doctor for the review was 9.6 min (SD+3.4). The majority of the patients were not satisfied with the time they had to wait to get a clinic number and collect medications from the pharmacy (59 % and 78 % respectively) while 52% were satisfied with the time they spent at the doctor. A significant number (90%) indicated that the overall clinic services were satisfactory or better. CONCLUSIONS: Although overall satisfaction level for clinic services were good, improving the waiting time to get a clinic number and waiting time to collect medications can result in higher overall patient satisfaction. PP 02: Meal patterns and drug compliance among Type 2 diabetic patients on the days of attending a tertiary care hospital diabetic clinic