The clients' Voice: Satisfaction with HIV/AIDS care in a public and private health facility in Kabale District, Uganda

Abstract

Background: In Uganda in 2008, about 121,218 people were on Antiretroviral therapy, which was 40% of all persons eligible for it then. Despite increasing availability and accessibility to HIV/AIDS care services, there are limited data on the effect of this scale-up on the quality of care in Uganda. Little information is available on clients' thoughts about the services. This paper examines client satisfaction with quality of HIV/AIDS care services in a public and a private health facility. Methods: In total, 216 client exit interviews were conducted in two clinics in Kabale district, south western Uganda using the SERVQUAL tool. Data were analyzed by looking at differences in mean scores between clients' expectations and perceptions. Paired t-tests and chi-square tests were done. Results: Overall, clients were dissatisfied with HIV/AIDS care, in both the public and private health facility. In both facilities and overall, tangibles was rated worst and responsiveness was rated best. Drug shortages were frequent and caused dissatisfaction. Conclusion: The findings suggested that quality of HIV/AIDS care in Kabale was lacking. They indicate that managers and policy makers need to pay more attention to it, especially physical facilities, equipment, ability of service providers to perform the service accurately, and drug shortages. Future research can be done on a larger scale within the district and beyond. copy; 2013 Kwesiga D, et al.