Patient-Related Factors Influencing Satisfaction in the Patient-Doctor Encounters at the General Outpatient Clinic of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Calabar, Nigeria

Medical consultation is at the centre of clinical practice. Satisfaction of a patient with this process is a major determinant of the clinical outcome. This study sought to determine the proportion of patients who were satisfied with their doctor-patient encounter and the patient-related factors that affected patients’ satisfaction with the consultation process. A clinic-based, cross-sectional study using a modified version of the General Practice Assessment Questionnaire (GPAQ), which employed a systematic sampling technique, was used. The questionnaires were administered on 430 patients within the ages of 18 years and 65 years. Among the 430 subjects within the ages of 18 years and 65 years studied, 200 (46.5%) were males and 230 (53.5%) were females. Only 59.3% were satisfied with their patient-doctor encounter. The patient’s perception of time spent in the consultation, illness understanding after the visit, ability to cope with the illness after the visit, and ability to maintain health after visit were the only factors that affected patient’s satisfaction with the consultation. In our environment, nonsatisfaction with the patient-doctor encounter is high. Only few factors considered to encourage a patients satisfaction at primary care consultation contributed to end-of-consultation satisfaction. This calls for refocusing so as to improve the overall patient care in our cultural context and meet the patient needs in our environment. 1. Introduction There is an increasing interest in the study of the consultation process and patients’ satisfaction with it [1]. The core activity in primary care is the consultation irrespective of whether patients consult for cure, services, counseling, prevention, or care. A widely accepted model views the consultation as a dialogue involving elements of negotiation to create a common reality to which agenda setting is paramount [2]. In the medical consultation the doctor and patient meet on common grounds with tolerance for each other’s rights. This consultation by necessity requires a doctor who is expected to possess the requisite knowledge which will be useful in solving the problems the patient presents with the assumption that the doctor will act in the best interest of the patient. Guided by rules of professional conduct, objectivity, and being emotionally detached the doctor is guaranteed the right to examine the patient physically and to enquire into intimate areas of the patient’s physical and emotional life. During the consultation, the reason for attendance is defined and an appropriate action is chosen.