Zeleke Hailemariam*, Mihiret Eyob and Eyob Deribe
Purpose: Caregivers’ satisfaction with services provided to under-five children was hardly studied in the study area. Therefore, this study aimed to assess caregivers' satisfaction and associated factors at primary health care units in rural Ethiopia.
Patients and method: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 393 caregivers from April 1 to May 30, 2022, at selected primary health care units in southern Ethiopia. A systematic random sampling technique was employed to recruit participants for a face-to-face exit interview. A structured questionnaire was used to measure dependent variables and independent variables. The dependent variable was satisfaction, measured by a five-point Likert scale, ‘1’ representing very dissatisfied to ‘5’ representing very satisfied. Overall satisfaction status was defined as: caregivers who rated less than 75% of the total satisfaction score were classified as "dissatisfied" and those who scored >75% were classified as "satisfied". Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression analyses were carried out. An adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with a 95% CI and a p-value of 0.05 was estimated to identify statistically significant variables.
Results: A total of 385 participants were interviewed, giving a response rate of 97.96%. The finding showed that 70% [95% CI: 65.8-74.0] of caregivers were satisfied. Caregivers: who had received all prescribed drugs from health facility that provided the care [AOR=3.2; 95% CI (1.9-5.3)], whose child received laboratory services [AOR=3.7; 95% CI (2.0-6.5)] and for whom the provider discussed diagnosis of the child [AOR=2.1; 95% CI (1.3-3.5)] were significantly associated with satisfaction with IMNCI services.
Conclusion: The overall caregivers’ satisfaction with services provided to under-five children in the study area was low as compared to related studies. Receiving prescribed drugs and services from the health facility that provided care for the child and, discussing the diagnosis of the child were associated with caregivers’ satisfaction. The rural district health system should give due emphasis to patient-centred care as well as improving supplies and drugs required to provide the services.
Published Date: 2023-12-30; Received Date: 2023-12-03
