Pediatric Consultant, Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital& Research Centre, Lahore, Pakistan Peshawar Medical College, Peshawar, Pakistan
ABSTRACT Introduction: The concept of patient satisfaction is not new. Patients are one of the main stake holders among the ever expansive modern world of medicine. A wealth of medical literature supports the notion that there have been unprecedented shifts in the traditional “Doctor-Patient” relationship. Patient satisfaction forms an essential component of many policy level decisions. Changes in patient care trends have been seen in developing countries recently. Patient satisfaction is a complex, multidirectional issue that needs to be approached from several different angles.
Objective: 1. To adapt, modify and apply a PSQ for Pakistani patient population based on similar data from Pakistan and other SAARC countries. 2. To measure patient satisfaction in two private and three public sector hospitals of Peshawar using a modified “Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire”. 3. To compare composite scores in seven different categories of Patient Satisfaction between private and public sector hospitals of Peshawar. .Method: A cross-sectional comparative study in three private and two public sector hospitals of Peshawar Pakistan was carried out from May’2010 – January’2011. 200 patients were enrolled through convenience sampling. Patients’ informed consent was taken for disclosure of personal information. Data was entered in Microsoft Excel 2007 and SPSS V 17 and further analyzed for satisfaction levels and comparison between the two healthcare systems studied. Independent sample T-test was employed for comparison of means.
Result: Total 200 patients (100 each from public and private sector hospitals) were interviewed after taking verbal consent. Mean patient satisfaction score in private sector hospitals was 121.94 ± 20.84 which was significantly higher than that of public sector hospitals, which was 104.97 ± 18.51 (p < 0.001). The scores for patient satisfaction in private sectors hospitals are significantly more in comparison with public sector hospitals in all aspects (p < 0.01) except “time spent with doctors” (p = 0.954).
Conclusion: In conclusion, patients in private sector hospitals are more satisfied than those in public sector hospitals. Both the groups are equally unsatisfied about the time spent with doctors.
