Satisfaction of Outpatients at Central and General Hospital Fiscal Year 2018, Thailand

Abstract

This survey research aimed to (1) determine the satisfaction of outpatients at central and general hospitals, (2) compare the satisfaction of outpatients based on the hospital settings, and (3) determine the relationship between gender, education, occupation, service days and the satisfaction. Altogether 25,752 out-patients were recruited from 103 hospitals, divided into 30 regional hospitals (A), 44 general hospitals (S) and 29 general hospitals (M1) through random sampling. Data were collected by using a 5-level estimation questionnaire which had validity index of 0.8–1.0 and reliability was 0.88; and the data were analyzed with descriptive statistics (mean, percentages) as well as the tests for association using one-way ANOVA and Pearson correlation. It was found that most of outpatients were female, secondary education/diploma, age 30-59 years; and their occupation included government or state enterprise worker, trade/private business, farmer and general employee. The common days for hospital visits were Monday, Wednesday and Thursday; and the main out-patient departments were internal medicine, surgery and obstetrics. Maximum satisfaction was expressed by 80.87% of the samples; the highest was in the areas of service personnel, and the lowest on service procedures. The details were as follow: (1) officer: highest satisfaction was with honesty in performing duties, and the lowest was about empathy, enthusiastic and ready to service; (2) service procedures: high satisfaction was with the intended service, the lowest was convenience and fast service, (3) facilities: satisfied with the clear and easy to understand signs and public relations, the lowest was about inadequate amenities such as toilets, drinking water, waiting seats; (4) service quality: high satisfaction was in receiving good service and quality. Comparing satisfaction based on hospital size, there was a high level satisfaction on M1 general hospitals (82.40%), followed by S level general hospitals (80.80%) and center (A) hospitals (79.80%). Age and occupation were found to be significantly associated with satisfaction of the outpatients services (p<0.05).