Patient Satisfaction with Pharmaceutical Services in Makkah: A Cross-sectional Study

OBJECTIVE: Patient satisfaction is considered an essential indicator of the treatment outcomes of pharmaceutical services. This study aimed to assess patient satisfaction with the pharmaceutical services at the Ministry of Health (MOH) hospitals in Makkah city in Saudi Arabia. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted via an interview-based questionnaire that involved patients who visited the outpatient pharmacy in five MOH hospitals from August 2018 to September 2018. The data were collected using a previously published, validated, and reliable questionnaire. The questionnaire was translated and piloted for the local context. FINDINGS: Data of 295 respondents were analyzed. The overall mean score of satisfaction level with the pharmaceutical services was found to be 2.50 out of a maximum score of 3. The item that the patients were most satisfied with was, “The extent of cleanliness in the waiting area for the provision of pharmaceutical services” (mean = 2.80) whereas the item the patients were least satisfied with was, “The information the pharmacist gives you about the proper storage of your medication” (mean = 2.00). “Illiterate” patients and those who visited the pharmacy first time had significantly higher satisfaction levels compared to those with other educational categories and those who had visited the pharmacy before, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our study showed that the overall level of satisfaction of patients with pharmaceutical services was high.