Health-care quality from patients’ perspective: A cross-sectional study at anti-rabies clinic of a tertiary care center, Bengaluru

ABSTRACT

Background: Rabies is a highly fatal viral disease, yet preventable through timely administration of post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). Anti-rabies clinic (ARC) plays an important role in providing PEP. Evaluation is a systematic way to improve current activities and by careful selection of alternative ways for better planning of future. Objective: The study was done with the intention to identify the gaps in the patients’ care in terms of patient satisfaction at ARC of a tertiary care center, Bengaluru. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 260 animal bite victims who visited outpatient department of ARC. The study tool comprised three sections; socio-demographic profile, details of animal bite, and patient satisfaction scale (PS-18) which was scored using 5-point Likert scale. T-test, analysis of variance and Pearson’s correlation was used to assess the relationship between quality dimensions and PS-18 scores. Results: The mean age of the study participants was 37.33 (17.71) years and majority were males. The overall mean score of PS-18 was 4.15 (0.42). The highest and lowest mean scores of PS-18 among the components were given to communication, 4.36 (0.61) and accessibility, 3.56 (0.75), respectively. There was significant association between religion, frequency of visit, category of bite, and cost incurred with mean scores of PS-18. Out of 260, about 62.7% of them gave good scoring for PS-18. Conclusions: The study findings showed that more than half of the patients visiting the outpatient department shared a positive experience. Although the mean scores for overall PS-18 scale belonged to the grade of good scoring; due interest to be taken to improve accessibility and convenience which was the least scored among the components of PS-18.