Predictors of Service Satisfaction Among Clients Receiving Antiretroviral Therapy Services at Public Hospitals in Eastern Ethiopia.

Background The issue of service satisfaction with antiretroviral therapy services needs more attention as it indicates the outcome of quality health services. Although different studies have been conducted on client satisfaction in different countries, there is limited evidence on the major predictors of client satisfaction with ART services in Ethiopia. Objective To assess the predictors of service satisfaction among clients receiving antiretroviral therapy services at a public hospital in Harar Town, Eastern Ethiopia. Methods A hospital-based cross-sectional study design was employed among 413 antiretroviral therapy clients from February to March 2018. The data were cleaned and entered into EpiData version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 21 for analysis. A five-point Likert scale was used to assess client satisfaction with the ART services. Clients who scored ≥75% of the items were categorized as "satisfied" and those who scored <75% of the items were categorized as "dissatisfied". Independent variables with a p-value of ≤0.25 in the binary regression analysis were included in the multivariate logistic regression analysis to control confounding factors. Statistical significance was set at a p-value less than 0.05. Results The overall client satisfaction with ART services was 76.9% (95% CI: 72.6, 80.6). Regarding the predictors, clients who were not attending formal education [(AOR=3.7, 95% CI: 1.75,8.12)] and primary education [(AOR=3.9, 95% CI: 1.66,9.32)], low wealth index [(AOR=2.8, 95% CI: 1.27, 6.28)], longer duration of treatment [(AOR=2.7, 95% CI: 1.46, 5.5.20)], shorter waiting time [(AOR=5.4, 95% CI: 2.52, 11.57)], disclosure of serostatus of HIV [(AOR=3.7, 95% CI: 1.59, 8.49)], seen by the same health care providers repeatedly [(AOR=2.0, 95% CI: 1.06, 3.82)], loss of medical records [(AOR=0.26, 95% CI: 0.13,0.50)] and social supports [(AOR=2.3, 95% CI: 1.12,4.63)] were significantly associated with service satisfaction on antiretroviral therapy services. Conclusion Overall client satisfaction with ART services was relatively low in the study area. However, not attending formal and primary education, low wealth index, longer duration of treatment, shorter waiting time, disclosure of serostatus, seen by the same health care providers, loss of medical records, and social support were independent predictors of client satisfaction.