Assessment of Patient Experiences in an Academic Hospital in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Introduction Patient continuous assessment is an important component of patient-centered healthcare systems and requires the identification of the services and resources of these systems to ensure patient satisfaction. This study aimed to determine the factors that affect patient satisfaction, identify patients' unmet health care and informational needs, and suggest measures to fill these gaps in healthcare systems. Methods A cross-sectional study included 235 patients who were admitted to the medical ward of an educational tertiary healthcare center in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, between June-September 2016. A self-administered questionnaire based on the Arabic version of the "échelle de qualité des soins en hospitalisation" or the quality of care in hospitalization scale (ESQ-H) consisting of two subscales that measured their satisfaction with the services received was offered to the study participants. We analyzed the data to identify factors associated with patient dissatisfaction using IBM SPSS® Statistics Version 21.0. Results The patients included 145 males (61.7%) and 90 females (38.3%). The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.933 for the questionnaire. In the subscale associated with the quality of the medical information patients received, three independent variables were associated with higher patient satisfaction: planned patients' hospital stay (p<0.001), patients' health improvement (p<0.001), and patients' overall life satisfaction (p<0.001). In the subscale associated with patients' relationship with medical staff and the daily routine of the medical ward, four independent variables were significant: male gender (p=0.007), patients, if the hospital stay was planned (p=0.009), improvement of patients' health (p<0.001), and patients' overall life satisfaction (p=0.006). Conclusion Patients' satisfaction level was "very good" with the medical information subscale and "excellent" with the relationship subscale. We found that although patients were satisfied with some aspects of their health care, other aspects required more attention; hence, the resolution of patients' unmet health care and informational needs should be prioritized by stakeholders to improve patient satisfaction. Furthermore, the patients should be informed about what they can expect during their upcoming hospital stay, their overall life satisfaction should be considered, and patients with issues related to their life satisfaction should be appointed a social worker.

Patient Satisfaction With Quality of Care at the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

“…Another study conducted in Italy considered the relationship between disease complications of diabetic patients and patient satisfaction and found that physician empathy was significantly associated with clinical outcomes related to patient satisfaction [ 16 ]. The same results were reported in a recent study conducted among 235 patients admitted to the medical ward of an educational tertiary healthcare center in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which found that perceived improvement in the health status of the patients was significantly associated with their satisfaction [ 17 ]. In this study, the main reasons for visiting the ED were shortness of breath (SOB) (17.8%), followed by sprain/fracture (11.9%), abdominal pain during pregnancy (10.0%), allergy (9.82%), trauma/wound (9.4%), and inflammation (8.65%).…”

Patient satisfaction among Saudi academic hospitals: a systematic review

“… 13 Another study indicated that patients’ overall mean satisfaction rate was 65.4. 14 Moreover, an observational study reported that the satisfaction rate increased after postoperative surgery for function and shape by 21.5% and 31.3%, respectively. 15 Detailed findings for each article are presented in table 2 .…”

“…More precisely, 5 of 11 studies revealed that the better communication interaction with patients, the higher the percentage of satisfaction is vice versa. 14 17–20 For instance, Abass et al reported that patients expressed satisfaction with the information about symptoms to observe after discharge and with medical follow-up care. However, the lack of information regarding a new medication’s negative effects left patients unhappy.…”

Attitudes of Family Medicine Trainees Towards Patient-Centeredness Practice

“…The administration of early patient-centered care courses during medical school and residency programs can tremendously increase patient satisfaction and improve healthcare outcomes. 19 , 20…”