Search

Background: Patient satisfaction is a vital metric for assessing healthcare quality and delivering patient-centered care. It can predict service utilization patterns by determining healthcare users' contentment with their providers. Consequently, evaluating patient satisfaction and its underlying factors is crucial to maintaining the quality of healthcare services. The present study aimed to assess patient satisfaction and its determinants in a tertiary care public hospital in Nepal. In this research, a cross-sectional design was employed to examine patient satisfaction within the Outpatient Department of Mental Hospital Lagankhel, Nepal. The study adopted a systematic random sampling approach for respondent selection, and stringent measures were implemented to uphold the validity and reliability of the collected data. To assess patient satisfaction comprehensively, the Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire-III (PSQ-III), developed by the RAND Corporation, was employed in conjunction with relevant sociodemographic variables. Utilizing mean scores and percentages, we calculated satisfaction levels across various dimensions. Additionally, a multinomial logistic regression analysis was conducted to investigate the relationships between patient satisfaction dimensions and sociodemographic characteristics. Results: This study encompassed perspective of 206 participants, with 57.3% representing patient relatives and 51% being male, median age of 32 years (standard deviation: 12.53). Notably, patients reported higher levels of satisfaction, particularly within the interpersonal relationship dimension, while the technical quality domain received comparatively lower satisfaction ratings. Multinomial logistic regression analysis underscored the significance of sociodemographic factors in shaping patient satisfaction, with age (p = 0.008), type of residence (p = 0.001), occupation (p = 0.0019), income status (p = 0.014), time to reach the healthcare facility (p = 0.013), and insurance enrollment status (p = 0.017) all demonstrating significant associations. These findings illuminate the intricate qualities of patient satisfaction within our healthcare context, offering actionable insights for enhancement and guiding the trajectory of future research endeavors. Conclusions: Overall patient expressed satisfaction with service provided by tertiary care hospital, however continuous improvement remains essential. Conducting large-scale, nationwide studies across hospital tiers is vital. This data-driven approach empowers policymakers to allocate resources effectively, inform decision-making, and enact policies that exceed patient expectations, fostering a healthcare system of unparalleled excellence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Seizures beginning in the adult life require special attention as regards to their etiology because these are likely to be due to an identifiable cause. Understanding the trend in prevalence of various etiology of seizure will help in formulation of diagnostic protocol and might help to reduce the cost of investigations. In this retrospective study, we, therefore, aimed to assess etiology and clinical profile of adult onset seizures. Methods This was a retrospective study done at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH), Kathmandu, Nepal. We included patients of both sexes and age > 18 years old admitted to neurology ward with seizure disorder and excluded the patients who suffered from unprovoked seizure and epilepsy. Our study variables included demographic profile of patients, co-morbidities, clinical features, laboratory investigation, neuro-imaging, EEG and drugs. Results Among 26 patients, 3 (11.5%) had hyponatremia, 2(7.7%) had intra-cranial space occupying lesion, 12(46.2%) had neurocysticercosis (NCC), 1 (3.8%) had opioid withdrawal, 1 (3.8%) had alcohol withdrawal, 1 (3.8%) had stroke, 1 (3.8%) tuberculoma and in 5 (19.2%) patients no underlying cause was found. Conclusion NCC was the most common cause of seizure disorders among adults. Even after huge development in laboratory, neuroimaging and neurophysiology testing, in as much as 19.2% patients, no etiology could be found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shigellosis, a disease caused by Shigella species. It is a major public health problem in developing nations like Nepal, where communities having poverty; poor sanitation, personal hygiene, and water supplies. The main aim of our study is to isolate and identify Shigella spp. from gastroenteritis patients and to find out its drug resistance pattern. A cross-sectional study was carried out based on routinely attending outpatients and inpatients. A total of 225 stool samples collected from gastroenteritis patients were processed from 20 April to 24 September 2014 in Western Regional Hospital, Pokhara, Nepal. Standard microbiological procedures were followed for the isolation of Shigella spp. After that slide agglutination kit method was used for identification of Shigella spp. Finally, Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method was done for an antimicrobial resistance test. Of the total 225 gastroenteritis patients, 133 were detected as bacterial positive cases. Among positive cases, Shigella spp. was identified in 10.5%. Age wise, an infection rate of Shigella in patients <15-years old was found higher i.e. 7.3% than in patients ≥ 15 years old i.e. 4.5% with the (p = 0.432) at 95% CI. The infection rate of S. dysenteriae, S. flexneri, and S. sonnei was detected in 28.6%, 57.1%, and 14.3% respectively. For the antimicrobial test, eight types of antibiotics were used. The most resistance pattern of isolated Shigella spp. was found in nalidixic acid, and co-trimoxazole 92.8% followed by ampicillin 64.3% and ciprofloxacin 42.8% etc. Our study reported that endemicity of Shigellosis with S. flexneri is the predominant group in gastroenteritis patients. This finding suggests that co-trimoxazole, nalidixic acid, ciprofloxacin and ampicillin should not be used experimentally as first-line drugs for shigellosis treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]