Satisfaction with outpatient health services at Jimma Hospital, South West Ethiopia

Background : The opinions of users about the health care services and the degree of their satisfaction may indicate the efficiency of the services. Objective : To assess consumer satisfaction of outpatient health care services. Methods : A cross-sectional survey was conducted at Jimma hospital from November to February 1999. Data were collected by health-workers using pre-tested, structured questionnaire. Results : A total of 385 outpatients, females, were interviewed at exit of hospital. The majority, 140 (36.4%) of the users were within the age group of 30-39 years. About 56% of the females visited the hospital for children's health care while 87.2% of the males visited for own health care. Overall, 57.1% of interviewee believed that the service they received was either good or very good. Satisfaction with health care was found to have a direct relationship with increase in age but has an inverse relation with increase in educational level of respondents. It has a significant association with length of waiting and consultation time, type of investigations performed and securing prescribed medications from hospital pharmacy (P Conclusion : Based on the findings of the study, efficient health service management to improve drug supply and quality of service are recommended. (Ethiopian Journal of Health Development, 2001, 15(3): 179-184)