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ABSTRACT
Background
HIV/AIDS remains the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Moreover, sub-Saharan countries, including Ethiopia, are highly affected by HIV/AIDS pandemic. Ethiopia’s government has been working on a comprehensive HIV care and treatment programme, including antiretroviral therapy. However, evaluating client satisfaction with antiretroviral treatment services is not well studied.
Objectives
This study aimed to assess client satisfaction and associated factors with antiretroviral treatment services provided at public health facilities of Wolaita zone, South Ethiopia.
Methods
A facility-based cross-sectional study involved 605 randomly selected clients using ART services from six public health facilities in Southern Ethiopia. A multivariate regression model was used to see an association between independent variables and the outcome variable. The odds ratio with 95% CI was computed to determine the presence and strength of the association.
Results
Four hundred twenty-eight (70.7%) clients were satisfied with an overall antiretroviral treatment service, which included significant variations ranging from 21.1% to 90.0% among health facilities. Sex [AOR = 1.91; 95% CI = 1.10–3.29], employment [AOR = 13.04; 95% CI = 4.34–39.22], clients’ perception of the availability of prescribed laboratory services [AOR = 2.56; 95% CI = 1.42–4.63], availability of prescribed drugs [AOR = 6.26; 95% CI = 3.40–11.52] and cleanliness of toilet in the facility [AOR = 2.83; 95% CI = 1.56–5.14] were factors associated with client satisfaction with antiretroviral treatment services.
Conclusion
The overall client satisfaction with antiretroviral treatment service was lower than the national target of 85%, with a marked difference among facilities. Sex, occupational status, availability of comprehensive laboratory services, standard drugs, and cleanliness toilets in the facility were factors associated with client satisfaction with antiretroviral treatment services. Sex-sensitive services needed to address and sustained availability of laboratory services and medicine recommended.
Responsible Editor Maria Nilsson
Responsible Editor Maria Nilsson
Acknowledgements
The author sincerely thanks the data collectors, supervisors and study participants. The authors also thank Nextgenediting for editorial assistance as part of their Global Initiative.
Author contributions
AC, ASB, TDD, DDW and, conception and design of the study and data analysis. AC, ASB: analysed the data and interpreted the findings. AC: conducted and supervised data collection and management. All the authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Ethics and consent to participate
Ethical approval was obtained from the ethical clearance board of Wolaita Sodo University with reference number RPGC/447/2021, according to the standardised principle and procedure, which is in line with national and WHO guidelines.
The participants were informed about the purpose of the study, and oral consent was obtained from each study participant.
Paper context
A human immune virus is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, but sub-Saharan countries are highly affected. Ethiopia’s government has been working on comprehensive HIV care and treatment programmes but evaluating client satisfaction with antiretroviral treatment services is not well studied. The overall client satisfaction was lower than the national target. Ethiopia’s lack of comprehensive laboratory services and standard drugs was associated with client satisfaction. Sustained availability of laboratory services and medicine is recommended.