Self-Reported Waiting Times for Outpatient Health Care Services in Hungary: Results of a Cross-Sectional Survey on a National Representative Sample

Abstract

(1) Background: System-level data on waiting time in the outpatient setting in Hungary is scarce. The objective of the study was to explore self-reported waiting time for an appointment and at a doctor’s office. (2) Methods: An online, cross-sectional, self-administered survey was carried out in 2019 in Hungary among a representative sample (n = 1000) of the general adult population. Chi-squared test and logistic regression analysis were carried out to explore if socioeconomic characteristics, health status, or residence were associated with waiting times and the perception of waiting time as a problem. (3) Results: Proportions of 90%, 41%, and 64% of respondents were seen within a week by family doctor, public specialist, and private specialist, respectively. One-third of respondents waited more than a month to get an appointment with a public specialist. Respondents in better health status reported shorter waiting times; those respondents were less likely to perceive a problem with: (1) waiting time to get an appointment (OR = 0.400) and (2) waiting time at a doctor’s office (OR = 0.519). (4) Conclusions: Longest waiting times were reported for public specialist visits, but waiting times were favorable for family doctors and private specialists. Further investigation is needed to better understand potential inequities affecting people in worse health status.

A new emergency during the latest phase of the COVID-19 pandemic: access to healthcare services by patients with non-communicable diseases

“…A non-secondary problem in the current healthcare landscape is represented by the need to make up for the delay accumulated in the management of waiting lists during the complete lockdown phase. Currently, indeed, the healthcare services requests add up to those planned but not carried out during the pandemic emergency phase and the subjects who most suffer to wait longer are those with worse health status, as recently reported by Brito Fernandes et al (31). Therefore, obstacles experienced in the latest phase of the pandemic could be the consequences of pre-existing healthcare systems problems that have been exacerbated by the pandemic.…”