Abstract
Background: With evolving health care industry toward patient centered orientation, inputs from the patients' perspective is valuable. Improved patient satisfaction is associated with increased levels of adherence to treatment processes and recommended prevention, and improved health outcomes. Hence, this study was conducted to assess the current level of patient satisfaction and explore its determinants in the Suva Subdivision health centers, Fiji, 2018.Methods: This was a mixed method cross-sectional study employing both quantitative and qualitative designs. A random sample of 410 participants attending the outpatient services completed the self-administered structured questionnaire. The questionnaire focused on socio-demographic features, waiting time, doctors' communication, and patient trust. Data from 375 questionnaires (response rate of 91%) was analyzed in SPSS where descriptive analysis and univariate and multivariate logistic regression was done at 0.05 level of significance and 95% confidence interval to find the determinants of patient satisfaction. From these 375 participants, 20 participants were purposefully selected for audio recorded interview guided by a semi-structured questionnaire and data was analyzed using thematic analysis.Results: The majority of the patients were generally fully satisfied with their consultation (69.3%). Univariate logistic regression showed that age, gender, education level, waiting time, doctors' communication behavior, and patient trust level were significantly associated with patient satisfaction independently. After controlling for all the variables, gender, number of visits, waiting time, and patient trust were significantly associated with trust. Those who had full trust in the doctors, were more likely to be fully satisfied with their consultation (aOR of 18; p = 0.0001) and those who got seen within 1 h, were more likely to be satisfied with their consultation (aOR of 3.3; p = 0.0001). Though, the patients voiced that getting a satisfying consultation was worth the wait. The doctors' attitude and way of communication also made a difference to the patient's level of satisfaction.Conclusions: This study showed that patient satisfaction is positively associated with patient trust, doctors' interpersonal skills and communication behavior and negatively associated with waiting time. Hence, doctors upgrading their communication skills and health service managers strategizing ways to improve waiting time can contribute to better patient trust and thus lead to better patient satisfaction and positively influence health outcomes.
Highlights
With evolving health care industry toward patient centered orientation, inputs from the patients’ perspective is valuable
Building better trust with proper communication helps in improving patient satisfaction with the consultation and treatment provided and this in turn improves treatment adherence and better health outcomes
There are several factors associated with patient satisfaction individually, such as age, gender, education level, number of visits, waiting time, communication behavior, and interpersonal skills of doctors and patient trust
Summary
With evolving health care industry toward patient centered orientation, inputs from the patients’ perspective is valuable. The health care system has evolved over time with a shift from being a traditional concept of noble profession toward a customer-oriented service industry [1] Contributing to this shift in health care system includes factors such as the availability of information through internet, higher expectations of patients, health insurance schemes, and advancement in medical technology [1]. Patients with higher trust in their physician usually have more beneficial health behaviors, less symptoms, higher quality of life and were more satisfied with the treatment [17, 22,23,24,25] Though, these patients may not be necessarily experiencing objectively better clinical outcomes as a meta-analysis study showed that was moderate correlation between patient trust and a subjective review of clinical outcomes [17]. Patient satisfaction can be considered as an indirect measure of self-rated subjective health outcomes and to some extent objective health outcomes
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
