Client satisfaction with outpatient department services and associated factor at public health centers Hawassa City, Sidama Region, Southern Ethiopia: A facility based cross sectional study

Original Article

Abstract

Background: Client satisfaction is defined as the degree to which a healthcare recipient is satisfied with significant aspects of the conditions, process, and result of their service experience. Client’s experiences with the treatment process may have an impact on treatment outcomes as well as the other way around. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the client satisfaction with outpatient department (OPD) services and associated factors at public health centers in Hawassa city, Sidama region, Southern Ethiopia 2023.

Methods: A facility based cross-sectional study was conducted from April 15 - May 15, 2023 among randomly selected 576 clients using outpatient department services in public health centers in Hawassa city. A pre-tested and structured face-to-face interviewer administered questionnaire was used to collect data. The data were coded and entered by Epi-info version 7.2.2.6 and exported to SPSS version 27 for analysis. Bi-variable and multivariable binary logistic regressions were used to identify associated factors to clients’ satisfaction. A p-value less than 0.05 and adjusted odds ratio with 95% Confidence Interval (CI) was considered as significance level for associations.

Results: The results of the study found that the overall level of client satisfaction with outpatient services was 74% (95% CI: 70.2% -77.5%). The factors that demonstrated a statistically significant association with client satisfaction were number of visits [AOR=3.20; 95% CI:(1.11, 9.24)], receiving triage service [AOR =2.14; 95% CI:(1.22, 3.75)], treated with respect [AOR =6.07; 95% CI:(2.71,13.56)], recommendation of service [AOR =3.05; 95% CI:(1.65, 5.64)] and presence of setup to leave comments [AOR=1.83; 95% CI:(1.06, 3.14)].

Conclusion: The finding of this study indicates a good level of satisfaction of clients with outpatient department services. On top of that, several factors were significantly associated with client satisfaction, including number of visits, receiving triage service, treated with respect, recommendation of service and setup to leave comments. Based on these results, it is recommended that healthcare providers focus on improving these factors to enhance client satisfaction.