Interpersonal Communication Training of Anti-Retroviral Therapy Providers Promotes Patients’ Satisfaction: A Case Study of Public Hospitals in Gombe State, Nigeria

Abstract

Interpersonal Communication (IPC)between healthcare practitioners and patients enhances client satisfaction, adherence, and health outcomes. In developed countries, effective IPC improves health, but little is known about Nigeria. Using a quasi-experimental approach, this study investigated the influence of interpersonal communication training for ART practitioners on patient satisfaction in Gombe state public ART hospitals. The study looked at clients’ satisfaction before and after IPC training for ART providers. Six public ART hospitals were chosen at random; three were assigned to intervention and control groups, respectively, and 250 HIV patients receiving treatment at these facilities were chosen at random; 125 from each of the three intervention and control facilities. At both the intervention and control locations, levels of satisfaction were evaluated both before and six weeks after IPC training. The data were obtained using a Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire (PSQ), and the reliability of the questionnaire was determined using the Cronbach Alpha test (0.76). For data analysis, SPSS 22 was used. Findings revealed that, 42.4% of the clients had been living with HIV for 1-5 years and the mean client satisfaction score with their providers' IPC training was 87.5 in the intervention group and 76.45 in the control group (P = 0.05) while, the mean difference before and after training in the intervention and control groups were 0.46 and 11.05, respectively and a p-value 0.000 was obtained. Therefore, there was a positive association between higher client satisfaction with ART services and training of ART providers on IPC. It is recommended that ART facilities should receive IPC training on a regular basis. Keywords: Anti-retroviral, Client-satisfaction, HIV/AIDS, Health-Personnel, Therapy.