Determinants of satisfaction with health care provider interactions at health centres in central Ethiopia: a cross sectional study

Abstract

BackgroundIn primary health care, provider-patient interaction is fundamental platform and critically affects service delivery. Nevertheless, it is often ignored in medical research and practice and it is infrequently subjected to scientific inquiry, particularly in Ethiopia. This study aimed to assess patient satisfaction with health care provider interactions and its influencing factors among out-patients at health centers in West Shoa, Central Ethiopia.MethodsA cross sectional facility based study was conducted on 768 out-patients of six health centers in West Shoa Zone, Central Ethiopia. The total sample size was allocated to each of the six health centers based on patient flow during the ten days prior to the start of data collection. Pre-tested instruments were used for data collection and the data were analyzed using SPSS version 16.0 statistical software. Factor score was computed for the items identified to represent the satisfaction scale by varimax rotation method. Using this regression factor score, multivariate linear regression analysis was performed and the effect of independent variables on the regression factor score was quantified.ResultsSeventy three percent of the respondents perceived that provider's empathy was good and 35% complained that providers were not technically competent enough. In addition, 82% of the respondents rated non-verbal communication by the providers to be good, very good or excellent on a five-point ordinal scale. Regardless of the process, only 34.1% of the patients implied that the consultations made a difference in understanding their illness and coping with it. Generally speaking, 62.6% of the patients reported that they have been satisfied with their visit. Perceived empathy, perceived technical competency, non-verbal communication, patient enablement, being told the name of once illness, type and frequency of visit, knowing the providers and educational status were main independent predictors of patient satisfaction in this study. Furthermore, very good empathy (Beta = -4.323), fair non-verbal communication (Beta = -0.188), fewer expectations met (Beta = -0.169) and disagreement to technical competency (Beta = -0.156) had greater negative influence on patient satisfaction. On the other hand, excellent non-verbal communication (Beta = 0.114) and being told the name of once illness (0.109) had pronounced positive influence on patient satisfaction.ConclusionThe present study showed that interpersonal processes including perceived empathy, perceived technical competency, non-verbal communication and patient enablement significantly influence patient satisfaction. Therefore, health care providers should work towards improving the communication skill of their professionals along with having technically competent workers which could possibly affect the perception of the patient about all of the variables identified as independent predictors of patient satisfaction in this study.

Determinants of Patient Satisfaction Towards Inpatient Nursing Services and its Associated Factors in, Gamo Gofa Zone, Snnpr, Ethiopia, April 2017

“…This similar with study in Tikur Anbassa indicated those who stayed 11-21 nights had lesser satisfaction than those who stayed less than 10 days [26]. Other study also revealed similar findings length of stay and previous admission were factors associated with patient satisfaction [20]. However it is different from cross sectional study conducted in Turkey to assess patient satisfaction with nursing care showed that patients who were hospitalized for longer periods were most satisfied [6].…”

“…This is different from other Studies which revealed that older respondents generally record higher satisfaction [20]. This is similar with Study conducted on Adult Patients' Satisfaction with Inpatient Nursing Care in northeast Ethiopia showed that Female patients were more likely to be satisfied with the nursing care as compared to male patients.…”

“…Literature review conducted of Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature and MEDLINE databases and the ABI/INFORM global business database on patient satisfaction with nursing care using a nursing model by using 44 papers published in English, between 1998 and 2007 showed that Antecedents embodied the uniqueness of the patient in terms of demographic data, social influence, previous healthcare experiences, environmental resources, intrinsic motivation, cognitive appraisal and affective response [16][17][18][19][20].…”

Patients’ Satisfaction and its determinants in Outpatient Department of Deberebirhan Referral Hospital, North Shoa, Ethiopia

“…The observed difference might be due to adequate number of health professionals, good infrastructure and better diagnostic facilities studies in most developed countries. However, the patient satisfaction in Deberebirhan Referral Hospital was higher than study conducted in selected hospitals of Amhara region, Tigray zonal hospital, hospitals in central Ethiopia and Harar hospital in which the patient satisfaction was 22% to 50%, 43.6%, 54.1% and 54.1% respectively [17][18][19][20]. This might due the fact many efforts have been made to make changes in the service delivery process.…”

Client satisfaction among private wing and regular health care services at Nekemte Referral Hospital, East Wollega Zone, Oromia regional state, Western Ethiopia: A comparative cross-sectional study, 2016

“…It can also serve as a tool in decision-making Linda and MSIPT (2001). Various studies indicated that the patient"s dissatisfaction factors includes: overcrowding, cost of treatment, lack of drugs and supplies, physical environment (cleanliness of toilet and examination rooms), courtesy and respect, waiting time, provision of information about hospital services, maintenance of privacy, difficulty to locate different sections, laboratory procedures and re-visiting of the Doctor for evaluation with laboratory results (Gary, 1998;Olijera and Gebresilasses, 2001;Mitike et al, 2002;Girmay, 2006;Abdosh, 2006;Birhanu et al, 2010;Agumas et al, 2014;Gamo et al, 2015;Iliyasu et al, 2010;Mezemir et al, 2014;Assefa et al, 2014;Assefa et al, 2011).…”