ASSESSMENT OF CLIENTS’ PERCEPTION AND SATISFACTION WITH QUALITY OF SCREENING SERVICES

ABSTRACT

Background: Screening services are an important feature of preventive healthcare; however, there are factors which affect the utilization of these screening services, one of which is the quality of the screening service provided. Underutilization of these screening services, due to negative perception and poor satisfaction with the quality, might lead to reduced detection of certain disease conditions, thus resulting in increased levels of morbidity and mortality. Objective: To assess clients’ perception and satisfaction with quality of screening services at the Centre for Disease Control, University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City. Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study. The study population comprised clients who presented at the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) Screening Clinic University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH). Convenience sampling was employed to select participants and data was collected using a pre-tested structured interviewer-administered questionnaire. Data was analyzed using IBM SPSS version 25.0 and level of statistical significance was set at 0.05 Results: Four hundred and eighty five respondents participated in this study. Majority, 342 (70.5%) of the respondents were female, and 213 (43.9%) respondents had secondary level of education. Majority, 455 (93.8%) of the respondents generally had good perception of the screening services. Factors affecting perception of screening services included cost of service, 221 (59.1), and prolonged waiting time, 135 (36.1%). A greater proportion, 351 (72.3%) of the respondents were satisfied with the quality of screening services. Respondents who were married, had lower level of education, were unemployed, had lower skill level and higher average monthly income were more likely to be satisfied with the quality of services. Majority of xiv the respondents who had good perception, 350 (76.9%) were satisfied with the quality of screening services at the CDC screening clinic. Conclusion: Majority of the respondents had good perception of the screening services. Perception of screening services was affected by cost of service and prolonged waiting time. About three-quarters of the respondents were satisfied with the quality of screening services. Married respondents were more likely to be satisfied with the quality of service compared to single respondents. The lower the respondent’s level of education and the higher the average monthly income, the more likely the client would find the screening services satisfactory. Respondents with good perception were more likely to be satisfied with the quality of service. Screening services can be added to the National Health Insurance Scheme and hospital administrators should try to reduce cost where applicable.