A comparative evaluation of patients satisfaction with cataract surgical services in a public tertiary and a private secondary eye care facilities in Nigeria.
OBJECTIVE
This study compared the degree of patients' satisfaction with cataract surgical services at a private, semi urban secondary eye care hospital - St Mary's Catholic Eye Hospital, Ago Iwoye, (SMEH) and a public tertiary hospital-University College Hospital Ibadan (UCH) in South Western Nigeria.


METHODS
A prospective, observational study of consecutive patients undergoing cataract surgery at SMEH and UCH was conducted between May and October 2007. Questionnaires were administered to a total of 366 patients preoperatively, 1 st day and 8 th week postoperatively. Results were analyzed using the SPSS statistical software.


RESULTS
Evaluation of patients' satisfaction with preoperative care showed that patients were more satisfied with the pre-consultation time (P=0.006) and cost of surgery (P<0.001) at SMEH than in UCH. There was no statistically significant difference with respect to satisfaction of patients with vision in both hospitals (P=0.09). More patients were satisfied with overall care at SMEH than UCH and were therefore more likely to recommend the hospital.


CONCLUSIONS
This study compared patients' satisfaction with cataract surgical services in two hospitals. Patients from the private secondary eye care hospital were more satisfied than patients from the public tertiary hospital. Satisfied patients have a great role to play in increasing cataract surgical uptake.
Department of Ophthalmology, University College Hospital Ibadan, Nigeria.
Olusola
O
Olawoye
Adeyinka
A
Ashaye
Charles
C
Bekibele
Ademola J
AJ
Ajuwon
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002387:Cataract Extraction; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006302:Health Services Research; D016304:Hospitals, Private / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006779:Hospitals, Public / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009549:Nigeria; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014505:Urban Population