Patient satisfaction, feasibility and reliability of satisfaction questionnaire among patients with pulmonary tuberculosis in urban Uganda: a cross-sectional study

Background: A comprehensive understanding of the barriers to and facilitators of poor tuberculosis (TB) treatment outcome is still lacking; posing a major obstacle to finding effective solutions. Assessment of patient satisfaction in TB programs would contribute to the understanding of gaps in healthcare delivery and the specific needs of individual patients. However, tools for assessing patient satisfaction are lacking. Objective: To establish patient satisfaction, the feasibility and reliability of a questionnaire for healthcare service satisfaction and a questionnaire for satisfaction with information received about TB medicines among adult TB patients attending public and private program clinics in Kampala, Uganda. Methods: In a cross-sectional study, we recruited 133 patients of known HIV status and confirmed pulmonary TB receiving care at the public and private hospitals in Kampala, Uganda. Participants were enrolled based on length of TB treatment as follows: starting therapy, completed two months of therapy, and completed eight months of therapy. A translated and standardized 13-item patient healthcare service satisfaction questionnaire (PS-13) and the Satisfaction with Information about Medicines Scale (SIMS) tool were administered by trained interviewers. Factor analysis was used to systematically group the PS-13 questionnaire into three factors of technical quality of care, responsiveness to patient preference, and management of patient preference satisfaction subscales. The SIMS tool was analyzed with two subscales of information about the action and usage of medication and the potential problems with medication. Results: Of the 133 participants, 35% (46/133) were starting, 33% (44/133) had completed two months, and 32% (43/133) had completed eight months of TB therapy. The male to female and public to private hospital ratios in the study population were 1:1. The PS-13 and the SIMS tools were highly acceptable and easily administered. Both scales and the subscales demonstrated acceptable internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha above 0.70. Patients that were enrolled at the public hospital had relatively lower PS-13 satisfaction scores (0.48 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.42 - 0.52)), (0.86 (95% CI, 0.81 - 0.90)) for technical quality of care and responsiveness to patient preferences, respectively compared to patients that were enrolled at the private hospital. For potential problems SIMS subscale, male patients that were recruited at the public hospital had relatively lower satisfaction scores (0.58 (95% CI, 0.40 - 0.86)) compared to female patients after adjusting for other factors. Similarly, patients that had completed eight months of TB treatment had relatively higher satisfaction scores (1.23 (95% CI, 1.06 - 1.44)) for action and usage SIMS subscale, and higher satisfaction scores (1.09 (95% CI, 1.03 - 1.16)) for management of patient preference (PS-13 satisfaction subscale) compared to patients that were starting treatment, respectively. Conclusion: The study provides preliminary evidence that the PS-13 service satisfaction and the SIMS tools are reliable measures of patient satisfaction in TB programs. Satisfaction score findings suggest differences in patient satisfaction levels between public and private hospitals; between patients starting and those completing TB therapy.