Patient Satisfaction Evaluation in CGHS Dispensaries in Kolkata, India

Abstract

Background: Patient satisfaction is one of the important studied aspects of health care. Measuring satisfaction reliably, however, is an ongoing challenge, thus objective of the study was to assess patient satisfaction in CGHS Dispensaries. Methodology: This cross sectional study was conducted over one year period in CGHS Dispensaries at Kolkata. A multistage sampling method was followed. Total number of respondents was 412. A self administered predesigned, pretested , semi structured questionnaire was used. Likert scale was used as scoring system in the questionnaire for patient satisfaction evaluation. Results: The overall level of satisfaction(moderate & very satisfied)in this study was 36.9%. Majority of the total respondents (84%) agreed/strongly agreed regarding the inadequacy of facilities like toilet , drinking water, sitting arrangement in the dispensaries. About (72.5%) of the overall respondents agreed/strongly agreed to the fact that doctors treating them were attentive, overwhelming majority of the total respondents (88.4%) was of the opinion that overcrowding was a problem in the dispensaries. Statistically significant association was found between patient satisfaction and per capita income in this study .Conclusion: The overall recommendation is that CGHS should strive to maintain the standard it has in order to keep patients satisfied with the services they receive.