Assessment of patient satisfaction with pharmacy service and associated factors in public hospitals, Eastern Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: A comprehensive understanding of the extent of patient satisfaction and its determinants are crucial in improving the quality of service. Hence, this research was designed to measure patient satisfaction with pharmacy service. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 422 patients to assess satisfaction with pharmacy service in public hospitals located in Eastern Ethiopia from September to January 2018. Data were collected through an exit interview using structured questionnaires. Then, it was entered into EpiData version 3.1 and exported to STATA version 14.2 for analysis. Associations between dependent and independent variables were assessed by multiple logistic regression using an adjusted odds ratio at a 95% confidence interval and the p values of less than 0.05. Results: A total of 407 samples were included in the final analysis. The mean overall satisfaction of clients measured out of five was 2.29 (standard deviation ± 0.56). The proportion of overall satisfaction was 46.19%. Patients within the age range of 26–35 years and 36–50 years were found to have 50% (adjusted odds ratio = 0.5, 95% confidence interval: 0.3, 0.9) and 60% (adjusted odds ratio = 0.4, 95% confidence interval: 0.2, 0.8) decreased likelihood of satisfaction compared with patients within the range of 18–25 years, respectively. Likewise, patients who attended only secondary education compared to their counterpart (a certificate and above) were less likely to be satisfied (adjusted odds ratio = 0.4, 95% confidence interval: 0.2, 0.8). In contrast, rural dwellers and patients who collected all their medications from the respective hospital were found to be more satisfied compared with their equivalent (adjusted odds ratio = 3, 95% confidence interval: 1.8, 5.2) and (adjusted odds ratio = 2.2, 95% confidence interval: 1.4, 3.5), respectively. Conclusion: Patient satisfaction with pharmacy service was found to be very low considering the current health-care system movement toward delivering quality service. Hence, health-care providers and administrators should give due attention to contributing factors in order to improve the quality of service and ultimately increase patient satisfaction.

Assessment of patient satisfaction towards auditable pharmaceutical transactions and services implemented in outpatient hospital pharmacy in Ethiopia

“…Our finding is in line with the availability of 76% of drugs in a general hospital in Ethiopia [ 23 ]; however, it is lower than a national report of 86.4% proportional availability of prescribed medicines to be dispensed in the APTS implemented hospital pharmacies in 2016 [ 16 ]. In contrast to our finding the lower proportion of clients were receiving all medications prescribed in the hospitals of Eastern Ethiopia 35% [ 10 ] and Dessie public hospital 56% [ 8 ]. This variation may be due to the differences in methods of measuring the proportional availability of prescribed.…”

“…In Ethiopia, institution-based studies found slightly higher than 50% overall patient satisfaction towards outpatient pharmacy services which is generally low [ 2 , 3 , 8 – 10 ]. The patients score higher satisfaction with the promptness of prescription medication service [ 2 ], and professionalism of the pharmacy staff [ 3 ] but lower on the information provided on storage, and possible side effects of medication.…”

“…The patients score higher satisfaction with the promptness of prescription medication service [ 2 ], and professionalism of the pharmacy staff [ 3 ] but lower on the information provided on storage, and possible side effects of medication. Patients who were served free of payment, illiterates, older adults, and those with no job compared showed better satisfaction [ 2 , 10 ].…”

Patients Satisfaction with Pharmaceutical Care and Associated Factors in the Southwestern Ethiopia

“…This finding is slightly lower than a study conducted at Dessie Town Hospitals (59.4%). 34 However, it is higher than study carried out at Yekatit 12 Medical College Hospital (47%), 35 Gondar University Referral Hospital (49.6%) 36 and the public hospitals of western and eastern Hararghe zone (6.19%) 37 in Ethiopia. This variation could be related to the difference in scope of the study, in which the current study assessed the PC in terms of pharmacist-direct contact with patients, clinical pharmacy services while comparative studies were based on usual pharmacy service, concentrating on the out-patient pharmacy services.…”

Assessing the Readability of Medicine Information Materials: The Case of Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital – Mixed Approach

“…5,13 In Ethiopia, patient dissatisfaction with the amount and quality of medicines information has often been reported. 14,15 Beyond that report, no further results have been published about the readability, patients' perception, and understanding of the medicine information materials in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the readability, patients' perception, and understanding of the medicine information materials (MIMs) in Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital (TASH), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.…”