Medical and Health Sciences

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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11888/18295

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Browsing Medical and Health Sciences by Author "Abdallah, Sojoud Bashar"

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    ASSESSMENT OF PATIENTS’ EXPERIENCE IN THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS IN WEST BANK – PALESTINE: A QUANTITATIVE CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY
    (An-Najah National University, 2024-10-23) Abdallah, Sojoud Bashar
    Introduction: The experience of patients in healthcare institutions is a complex and multifactorial, and is related to sociodemographic, cultural, and institutional factors, and their perceptions of healthcare services. This is more obvious in critical and overcrowded settings like emergency departments (EDs), in which the following study aimed to assess patients’ experience in selected Palestinian hospitals, as well as the main demographic and patient-related factors affecting the general experience level. Method: The study implemented a cross-sectional, quantitative design on a convenient sample of 405 adult patients who visited EDs in the targeted hospitals, and were asked to fill in a valid questionnaire called the Accident and Emergency Department Questionnaire (A&ED) that was translated and back-translated to Arabic language, and validated by 5 experts. Data were treated in anonymity and confidentiality and were analyzed using SPSS software. Results: The median age of patients was 28 years old (IQR = 2), with 57.8% females, 24.2% visited the ED for respiratory system indication, 27.2% care for others, and 72.8% of the questionnaires were filled in by the patient. More than half of the patients reported being treated in dignity and respect all of the time (56.0%), which was reflected by positive opinions related to waiting, communication, environment, and other domains, resulting in a satisfactory median score of overall experience (7 out of 10), which was significantly higher with age (r = 0.114, p-value = 0.022), female patients (p-value = 0.010), who did not suffer from health conditions for the last 12 months (p-value = 0.012), who do not care for others (p-value = 0.038) and when the questionnaire was filled in by the patient himself/herself (p-value < 0.001). Conclusion: The overall experience of Palestinian patients in EDs is moderate, and affected by several factors, which should be considered in continuous and evidence-based programs that enhance environmental and institutional factors and target the improvement of HCPs skills and emergency dynamics. Further longitudinal research is needed that covers more related factors. Keywords: patient, experience, perception, emergency department, emergency room