Assessing the Quality of Antiretroviral Therapy Services: A Patient-Centered Study in a Sokoto Tertiary Hospital

Abstract

Patient satisfaction towards services has become a tool to gain attention and value amongst the patients 
as well as health care providers. Satisfied patients are more likely to comply with prescribed treatment 
and advice from the doctors; they are also more likely to return for additional care especially for those on 
long term treatment like human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome 
(HIV/AIDS). This study aims to assess the satisfaction of people living with HIV/AIDS with services 
provided at anti-retroviral therapy centre in a tertiary hospital in Sokoto state, Nigeria. The study was a 
descriptive cross-sectional design carried out in Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital 
(UDUTH) in November, 2012. A total of 257 respondents were recruited into the study using systematic 
sampling. A set of semi structured questionnaire was used to obtain data from the respondents. Most of 
the respondents were females, Hausa/Fulani, HIV stage 2 disease and had been on Anti-retroviral therapy 
(ART) between 2 to 5 years. They were generally satisfied with most of the services rendered by the clinic. 
Dissatisfaction was expressed on only 3 components of the clinic services, home visits, the adherence 
unit and availability of drugs. The binary logistic regression model was able to distinguish between 
respondents who reported and those that have not reported satisfaction with the services of the centre; 
P < 0.005. Though our study shows most of the respondents were generally satisfied with services, there 
is still need for improvement of services in some areas where the patients showed dissatisfaction. There 
is a need to maintain high standards in all areas of services provided to ensure that patient optimize need 
to utilize the services and improve their general wellbeing.