JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Patient satisfaction is a crucial goal in healthcare, serving as both a benchmark for the quality of care and a catalyst for improvement. In Ethiopia, numerous studies have investigated patient satisfaction with perioperative services and the factors that influence it. However, these findings have been inconsistent, and a systematic review or meta-analysis has not yet been performed in the country. This research aims to assess comprehensive patient satisfaction with perioperative services and identify the factors associated with it in Ethiopia.

Objective:

To determine the pooled prevalence of patient satisfaction with perioperative care. To identify significant associated factors affecting patient satisfaction with perioperative service.

Methods:

We included all observational quantitative research articles on patient satisfaction with perioperative services in Ethiopia. We searched African Journal Online (AJOL), Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Google Scholar, PubMed/MEDLINE, and Scopus databases. The Newcastle‒Ottawa Scale was used to assess the quality of the samples. To assess heterogeneity, subgroup analyses were conducted, and I² statistics were calculated. The study utilizes funnel plots, Egger's test, and nonparametric trim-fill analysis to assess publication bias. Sensitivity analysis was also used to identify any influential studies. Univariate meta-regression examined the association between study-level covariates and perioperative satisfaction. The study was registered (CRD42024614957) on the PROSPERO protocol.

Results:

This study included 21 studies with 6,858 participants. Overall satisfaction with perioperative services among patients was 73.96% (95% CI: 68.84, 79.08%), I² = 96.56%. Factors significantly associated with higher satisfaction included effective postoperative pain management, use of local anesthesia, lower educational attainment, and prior surgical or anesthesia experience.

Conclusions:

The meta-analysis found that the pooled prevalence of patient satisfaction with perioperative services in Ethiopia was 73.96%. Postoperative pain management, illiteracy, primary school, local anaesthesia, and a history of anaesthesia or surgery were significantly associated with patient satisfaction with perioperative services. Healthcare facilities should focus on comprehensive and effective postoperative pain management strategies, clear and understandable information about perioperative services, and surgical and anaesthesia teams' training to increase overall patient satisfaction with perioperative services in Ethiopia.