Patient Satisfaction with Surgical Informed Consent and Its Associated Factors Among Women Undergoing Obstetric and Gynecologic Surgeries in Northwest Amhara Regional Specialized Referral Hospitals, Ethiopia, 2024

Abstract

Introduction: Women who were unsatisfied with their informed consent showed poor adherence to treatment plans, a high burden of hospital readmission, and a low intention to attend follow-up appointments. There is a dearth of evidence about the level of patient 
satisfaction with the informed consent process in the study setting. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the level of satisfaction towards informed consent and associated factors among women who underwent obstetric and gynecologic surgery.

Objective: To assess the level of satisfaction towards informed consent and associated factors among women who underwent obstetric and gynecologic surgery at Northwest Amhara regional specialized referral hospitals, Ethiopia, 2024. 

Methods: Multi-center institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted at Northwest Amhara regional specialized referral hospitals. The data was collected using a semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire. After checking the data for consistency and completeness, it was coded and entered into EPI data 3.6 by a principal investigator and exported to STATA vers.14 for analysis. Statistical summaries were done and the results were presented in the text, tables and figures. Bi-variable and Multivariable analysis were performed to identify factors associated with satisfaction towards surgical informed consent. In 
Multivariable logistic regression, variables with a P value < 0.05 were considered to be significantly associated with the outcome variable. 

Result: From total 647 sample size, 633 study participants were involved directly in this study giving a response rate of 97.84%.  The finding of this study showed that 302(47.71 %) of respondents were satisfied. Multi-parity (AOR: 2.31, 95% CI: 1.08-4.96), written informed consent with mother tongue (AOR: 1.56, 95% CI: 1.06-2.30), good knowledge (AOR: 1.60, 95% CI: 1.08-2.38) and good patient to health care providers relationship (AOR: 5.31, 95% CI: 3.56-7.92) were positively associated with patient satisfaction.

Conclusion and Recommendation: The findings of this study indicated that patient satisfaction with surgical informed consent services was relatively lower compared to previous studies. Healthcare facilities should organize sessions for health professionals to enhance the patient-provider relationship and improve the delivery of informed consent services.