Patient satisfaction after Elective Major Gynaecological Surgery in 2 reference hospitals in Yaounde: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Introduction Patient satisfaction is a quality of care measure and reveals patients’ appreciation of healthcare delivery. We sought to measure patient satisfaction following major gynaecological surgeries in 2 University Teaching Hospitals in Yaounde, Cameroon.Methods Ours was a cross-sectional, prospective study over 9 months (October 1 st 2018, to June 30 th 2018) at the Yaounde Gynaeco-Obstetric and Paediatric Hospital (YGOPH) and the Yaounde Central Hospital (YCH). By administering a modified Surgical Satisfaction Questionnaire (SSQ-8) via phone call 6 months after surgery we appreciated and scored key aspects linked to patient satisfaction, and obtained information on post-operative complications. Data was analysed using Microsoft Excel 18 and SPSS 21 setting significance at p<0.05.Results We recruited 72 patients aged 24 to 68 years. Our participants had a mean satisfaction score of 26 ± 7.854 (59.7% satisfied and 40.3% dissatisfied). All aspects tested on the SSQ-8 questionnaire influenced patient satisfaction. Patients who said they were satisfied with pain control after surgery (OR=0.207 CI=0.070–0.609, P=0,003), and with surgical results in the SSQ-8 questionnaire (OR=0.053, CI=0.011–0.254, P<0.001) achieved statistically significant post-operative satisfaction. Contrarily, patients who were dissatisfied with surgery results (OR=132.000, CI=15.256-114.131, P< 0.001) and those who developed complications (OR=7.922, CI=2.241 – 28.004, P<0.001) were significantly dissatisfied with surgery. Additionally, 47.2% declared a poor post-operative current health status versus 52.8% who claimed a good post-operative current health status. Following multivariate analysis, satisfaction with the results of surgery (aOR= 0.071, CI=0.008–0.657, P= 0.020) and the occurrence of complications (aOR=7.284, CI=1.146 – 46.273, P=0.035) were the main determinants of patient satisfaction. Patient current health status evolved similarly to patient satisfaction and especially by satisfaction with time taken to resume work (aOR=0.039, CI=0.004-0.398, P=0.006) and pre-operative exercise routine (aOR=0.038, CI=0.002–0.678, P-value=0026).Conclusion Patient satisfaction with elective gynaecological surgery is low and determined by post-operative experiences and the occurrence of complications. Also, patient self-reported current health status tends to evolve similarly to satisfaction following surgery.