الفهرس 
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Patient satisfaction is of great interest to health care researchers and administrators, being a desirable outcome, and a measure of quality of medical care. It is also a prerequisite for quality care, because satisfied patients are more likely to cooperate with their physicians and to adhere to their recommendations. The degree of interest in the concept of satisfaction in these service institutions varies depending on the importance of the type of service that the customer is concerned with.Health services are divided into two types:Preventive services: Services that are provided to maintain human health and protect against disease.Therapeutic services: These services are provided for the disposal of the disease after the occurrence, through the examination of the patient and the diagnosis of illness and attach to a medical institution and the provision of medicine and food appropriate to his condition.
The concept of satisfaction may relate to clinical outcomes, patient-to-patient relationships, medical and nursing settings, timing of medical intervention, diagnosis, hotel characteristics, etc.
The general objective of this study was to assess satisfaction of patients with health services in one of the Military Hospitals in Alexandria.Subjects and Methods In order to accomplish this objective, descriptive cross-sectional approach was carried out to assess satisfaction of patients with health services in one of the Military Hospitals in Alexandria. The sample was collected by equal allocation from the 3 departments (Surgery, Internal medicine and Orthopedic). The sample was selected from each department using simple random sample depends on beds number as the serial of the beds were the frame of which certain beds were selected randomly for including its patient. The total sample was 369 patients.
Pretest structured patient satisfaction questionnaire was used to collect data from patients.
Analysis of the Collected Data Revealed the Following Main Results:
Reliability testing using coefficient α indicated that the reliability was high for the five domains of physicians, food services, nurses, housekeeping, and admission process (0.76-0.85), but moderate for the hospital environment and facilities (0.67).
The lowest mean satisfaction score is for patients aged ”from 15 to less than 30” (81.27), while the highest mean satisfaction score is for patients aged ”from 60 to less than 75” (88.12). Regarding gender, female patients recorded the higher mean satisfaction score (88.02). Marital status, the lowest mean satisfaction score is for ”single” (82.76). Level of education, the lowest mean satisfaction score for ”university or more above” (81.76). With regard to occupation, about (83.97) were the lowest mean satisfaction score for “not working”.
Concerning perceived health status, it appears that the level of satisfaction was highest mean score among those who perceived their health status as ”good” (87.54). Expectation about hospital services, it appears that the mean satisfaction score was highest among those had expectation about hospital services were ”better” (87.64). Concerning hospital department, the highest mean satisfaction score (87.82) of those who admitted to ”surgery department”, while the lowest mean satisfaction score (84.24) of those who admitted to ”orthopedic department”.
Concerning patient sociodemographic characteristics as determinants of overall satisfaction, bivariate analysis indicated that age, gender, marital status, educational level and occupation had significant effect on overall rating of hospital services but multiple regression revealed that only age variable. As regards descriptive data characteristics, both analyses indicated that satisfaction was greater those who perceived their health status as good and those who expected better services.
Based on the result findings of the current study, the most important recommendations included the following: The use of the developed instrument for regular monitoring of the level of patient satisfaction with specific aspects of care at the hospitals, as a means for continuous quality improvement.Better interpersonal skills of medical staff were linked to higher patient satisfaction so conducting workshops for training of medical staff regarding interpersonal skills and attitude of medical staff could increase the level of patient satisfaction. Continuous medical education for the medical team is critical for providing high quality of care and improving services provided by physicians to increase the level of patient satisfaction regarding technical quality.
Upgrading of the housekeeping (cleanliness of bed sheets at patient’s room), admission process, telephone services, promptness of response to bell, allowing patient to choice of menu items and doctor’s availability when needed at the hospital study. Patient satisfaction surveys should be carried out routinely in all aspects of health care to improve the quality of services.