ABSTRACT

Background: Clients' satisfaction refers to how a healthcare receiver feels about important elements of the circumstances, procedure, and outcome of their service experience. Treatment outcomes may both impact and be influenced by client experience with the treatment process.

Objective: To determine client satisfaction with outpatient department services and associated factors in Hawassa town, Sidamma region, southern Ethiopia 2023.

Methods: Facility based cross-sectional study design was conducted starting from April 15-May 15, 2022 to May among a total of 576 clients using outpatient department services in Hawassa public health centers selected by simple random sampling method. Data were collected by structured face-to-face interviewer guide questioner. The data were entered by Epi-info version 7.2.2.6 and then exported to SPSS version 27 software for further analysis.Bi-variable and multivariable binary logistic regression were used to identify associated factors to client’s satisfaction. P-value less than 0.05 and adjusted odds ratio with 95% CI considered as significance level for associations.

Result: The results of the study unveiled that the overall level of client satisfaction stood at 74% (95% CI:70.2-77.5). Similarly, the factors that demonstrated a statistically significant association with client satisfaction were: a courteous greeting from health providers [AOR = 4.840; (95% CI: 2.407, 9.732)], adequate information about treatment [AOR = 7.575; (95% CI: 3.085, 18.601)], obtaining all laboratory orders [AOR = 4.921; (95% CI: 1.340, 18.072)], availability of prescribed medications [AOR = 4.380; (95% CI: 1.571, 12.213)], recommending the services used to a family member or friend [AOR = 2.845; (95% CI: 1.177, 6.881)], maintaining a clean facility environment [AOR = 4.767; (95% CI: 1.285, 17.686)], and expressing contentment with the sanitation of the latrine [AOR = 2.622; (95% CI: 1.243, 5.531)].

Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate that the overall level of client satisfaction falls below three-fourth, highlighting the need for improvements in various areas. On top of that, several factors were significantly associated with client satisfaction, including receiving an appropriate greeting from healthcare providers, obtaining adequate information about treatment, obtaining all necessary laboratory orders, acquiring all prescribed medications from the health center's pharmacy, recommending the services used to others, maintaining a clean facility environment, and expressing contentment with the sanitation of the latrine. Based on these results, it is recommended that healthcare providers focus on improving these factors to enhance client satisfaction.

Key words: Client satisfaction, outpatient department, associated factors, Hawassa city administration

BEZAWIT WORKNEH(BSC)