Assessment Of Quality Of Clinical Laboratory Service And Clients Satisfaction At Public General Hospitals In Addis Ababa Ethiopia.

Background: - Laboratory services are essential components in the diagnosis and treatment ofrnpatients infected with a variety of diseases. The laboratory infrastructure and quality remain in itsrnnascent stages in most countries in Africa which demanded strengthening them. There arernlimited studies on quality of clinical laboratory services in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.rnObjectives: - To assess quality of clinical laboratory services and clients satisfaction in publicrngeneral hospitals in Addis Ababa.rnMethods:- A facility based quantitative study was conducted using two study instruments. ThernWHO-AFRO accreditation tool was used to measure the quality standard according to the WHO-rnAFRO score. Service quality descriptive measures were used to measure quality. On the otherrnhand, customers’ satisfaction was measured using 422 clients’ exit interview in five publicrngeneral hospital laboratories. Sampling proportionate to size technique was employed.rnDescriptive summary measures and odds ratio along with 95% CI in binary logistic regressionrnwas used to measure magnitude and association respectively.rnResults:- The mean score of all five public general hospital laboratories in the observationalrnstudy using WHO/AFRO accreditation checklist were 65.5%, and ranked as two stars. Whereasrnonly 47.6% of the respondents perceived the clinical laboratory service as good quality orrnsatisfied. Politeness and willingness of health providers,(66.1%). Professionals’ neatness andrnphysical appearance, (61.2%)were better attributes in clients’ satisfaction. However, clientsrnwere highly dissatisfied by cleanliness of latrine, (47.6 %) and turnaround time, (30.5 %)of thernresults.rnConclusion: - The quality of laboratories in public hospitals of Addis Ababa were found to bernmuch less than WHO/AFRO international accreditation quality standards. And satisfaction raternof clients was also low. The satisfaction was found to be much lower in turnaround time andrncleanliness of latrines in laboratories.rnRecommendations: - The Regional Government and Regional Office of laboratory coordinatorsrnshould take measures to enhance quality of clinical laboratory services within the public generalrnhospitals. In service trainings should also be availed to laboratory personnel. Continuousrnmonitoring of laboratory services should be done to achieve full accreditation and maximumrnpatient satisfaction. The Ethiopian Health Sector Development Program should have targets withrnregards to laboratory quality improvement. Detailed studies should also be done at national level.

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