Outpatient Consultation of Diabetes and Cardiovascular Diseases Patients in Abuja Public Hospitals Based on Selected Indicators

Abstract

AIM. Diabetes and cardiovascular diseases are among the reasons for most outpatient consultations. The study aimed to evaluate the reported experiences of patients being managed for diabetes and cardiovascular diseases in the outpatient clinics of Abuja public hospitals. METHOD. A prospective cross-sectional study of 787 systematically sampled patients receiving care in five public hospitals in Abuja was conducted. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data on the number of yearly consultations, problems encountered in accessing trained health personnel, time spent on hospital appointments, major treatment challenges, and ways to improve their experience on hospital visits. Consultation experience was defined as good or poor. Patients who consulted at least four times in a year, reported no problems in accessing trained health personnel, and had no treatment challenges were regarded as having a good consultation experience. Frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation were used to summarize the data. Logistic regression was used to predict and classify the binary outcomes. A p-value ≤ 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS. More of the patients (66.2%) had up to four consultations in a year. Long waiting time (56.1%) was the common problem encountered when accessing trained medical personnel. The major treatment challenge was hospital waiting time (49.4%). The mean time spent in the hospital on appointment days was 5.04±1.80. Approximately 40% of the patients suggested proper scheduling of hospital appointments as the major way to improve treatment experiences. Poor consultation was recorded by 96.6% of the patients. Logistic regression showed that a higher educational level (OR = 0.031, 95% CI [0.008-0.119], _P=_0.001) was associated with reporting poor management. CONCLUSION. The average number of yearly consultations was below the minimum standard, and patients spent long hours on consultation days before meeting with healthcare personnel. Most patients were dissatisfied with the services received and rated them poor.