Satisfaction and associated factors of outpatient psychiatric service consumers in Ethiopia

The purpose of this study was to assess the level of patient satisfaction and associated factors with psychiatric outpatient services in Ethiopia.

A cross-sectional study was performed from May 2015 to June 2015. A total of 454 participants selected by systematic random sampling were included in this study. Pretested and interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. Patient satisfaction was measured using Charleston Psychiatric Outpatient Satisfaction Scale, and other validated tools were used to assess the associated variables. Multivariate logistic regressions with 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to assess the strength, and P-value <0.05 was used to indicate significance of association.

A total of 441 respondents were enrolled, with a response rate of 97.1% and magnitude of satisfaction of 61.2%. Being male (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] =0.612, 95% CI: 0.39, 0.94), being widowed (AOR =0.13, 95% CI: 0.05, 0.36), urban residence (AOR =0.49, 95% CI: 0.31, 0.78), diagnosed with schizophrenia (AOR =0.48, 95% CI: 0.28, 0.81), unfavorable attitude (AOR =0.49, 95% CI: 0.28, 0.86), and poor social functioning (AOR =0.52, 95% CI: 0.34, 0.80) were significantly associated with satisfaction.

More than one-third of psychiatric service consumers were dissatisfied with the service they received. Integrating patients to their own treatment plan and regular service evaluation are important to improve satisfaction.