Abstract
Background: Satisfaction of patients for pharmaceutical services reflects their preferences and expectations, and the realities of care. It is critical to understand the extent of dissatisfaction for pharmaceutical services and its associated factors in order to optimize the required quality of the services provided. Therefore, this study is aimed to explore the extent and reasons for dissatisfaction from outpatients provided with the pharmacy services at Hiwot Fana Specialized University Hospital and Federal Harar Police Hospital in Harar, eastern Ethiopia.Methods: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 844 outpatients. Data were collected by interviewer administered interviews that employed a structured questionnaire which was meant to estimate dissatisfaction/satisfaction of the outpatients for the pharmacy services provided using a 1–5 point LIKERT scale. SPSS version 20.0 was employed to analyze data. Accordingly, potential covariates were identified using chi-squared test and binary logistic regression analyses were undertaken to adjust for the covariates.Results: The highest (61.1%) dissatisfaction was scored for lack of consistent availability of prescribed drug(s). Factors that showed significant association with dissatisfaction were marital divorce [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 2.67; 95% CI 1.01–7.06]; lack of quality system or Auditable Pharmaceutical Transaction Services (AOR 13.56; 95% CI 9.10–20.23); and patients’ perceived insufficient knowledge of pharmacists (AOR 2.50; 95% CI 1.61–3.87) and good interaction with their pharmacists (AOR 0.28; 95% CI 0.14–0.56).Conclusion: Outpatients’ highest dissatisfaction was related with the inadequate availability of prescribed drug(s). Lack of quality system; marital divorce; and patients’ perceived insufficient knowledge of pharmacists increased the likelihood of dissatisfaction but it was less likely to occur in outpatients who perceived their interaction with pharmacists as positive. Therefore, in addition to securing consistent availability of drugs and implementing a quality system, improving the technical and personal skills of pharmacists is likely to improve satisfaction of patients with the pharmacy services.
Highlights
Sub-optimal pharmaceutical services may lead to inappropriate treatment with medications, prolongation or exacerbation of disease(s), and increment in cost of the treatment (Teshale et al, 2014)
This study investigated the extent of dissatisfaction/satisfaction for pharmacy services (Table 2 and Supplementary Table S1)
Dissatisfaction for pharmaceutical services in the study settings was more likely to increase among outpatients with marital divorce, who were served in Federal Harar Police Hospital (FHPH), and who perceived knowledge of their pharmacists as insufficient
Summary
Sub-optimal pharmaceutical services may lead to inappropriate treatment with medications, prolongation or exacerbation of disease(s), and increment in cost of the treatment (Teshale et al, 2014). Consistent provision of high-quality pharmaceutical services to patients that meets their expectation is a critical step in the process of maintaining such satisfaction (Correr et al, 2009). Satisfaction of patients for services can reflect their preferences and expectations, and the realities of care so that it can serve as an essential tool to measure quality of pharmaceutical services (Briesacher and Corey, 1997). Understanding the extent of dissatisfaction with pharmaceutical services and its associated factors will be a key first step toward optimizing such aspects of healthcare (MacKinnon, 2005). It is critical to understand the extent of dissatisfaction for pharmaceutical services and its associated factors in order to optimize the required quality of the services provided. This study is aimed to explore the extent and reasons for dissatisfaction from outpatients provided with the pharmacy services at Hiwot Fana Specialized University Hospital and Federal Harar Police Hospital in Harar, eastern Ethiopia
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