Patient Satisfaction with Healthcare Service Quality and Its Associated Factors

Abstract

Background: Patient satisfaction is one of the most important components of measuring healthcare quality. The study aimed to evaluate the validity and reliability of the patient satisfaction scale with the quality of health services and its associated factors. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to collect data on patient satisfaction with 301 outpatients in the outpatient waiting areas of a hospital in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Results: The overall outpatient satisfaction was 53.5%. There were five factors (facilities, services provision results, information transparency and administrative procedures, accessibility, and interaction and communication of staff) including one major factor with a high Eigenvalues coefficient, 22.5 for satisfaction with the facility, and four others with lower Eigenvalues coefficient, 3.2, 2.0, 1.5, and 1.2 for satisfaction with service provision results, information transparency and administrative procedures, accessibility, and interaction and communication of staff respectively. All satisfaction factors show internal consistency reliability, with a Cronbach’s Alpha of over 0.9. The insured are 3.5 times (95% CI: 1.9–6.2) more likely to be satisfied with health services than the uninsured. Conclusion: The patient satisfaction measurement tool should be used for intervention to improve the quality of health services at the clinic.