DEVELOPMENT OF AN INSTRUMENT TO MEASURE SATISFACTION OF HIV POSITIVE CLIENTS WITH HEALTH SERVICE IN HIV TREATMENT HOSPITALS IN NIGERIA

Background: Having a satisfaction assessment tool that is reliable and valid is paramount in patient satisfaction research. Objective: To develop an instrument to assess the satisfaction of HIV-infected persons covering different aspects of health service delivery in Nigerian HIV treatment hospitals. Materials and Methods: The questionnaire items were developed from literature as well as from key themes identified by Nigerian patients as been most important in the delivery of high-quality care as reported in a systematic review. The following factors were assessed: construct validity, factorial validity, reliability, face and content validity, and practicality. Bishop Shanahan Hospital Nsukka evaluated the instrument’s viability, and a tertiary healthcare facility validated it. Principal components and varimax rotation were utilized in factor analysis. Utilizing internal consistency and Cronbach’s alpha, reliability was examined. Spearman’s rho correlation was used to determine the convergence and discriminant validity. Results: A 10-item questionnaire was developed in a band score of 0-10 response options. ‘’0’’ indicates complete dissatisfaction and ‘’10’’ denotes complete satisfaction. Ninety questionnaires were collected for the pilot test while validation of the instrument was done with five hundred questionnaires. Two factors emerged from factor analysis: physicians, laboratory scientists and other service provisions’, and ‘pharmacists and nursing services’ with a cumulative variance of 67.74%. Cronbach’s alpha for the whole questionnaire was 0.821, and 0.899, 0.965 for the two factors, respectively. Both convergent and discriminant validity tests were satisfactory. Conclusion: This study developed a reliable and valid instrument for assessing patient satisfaction with health services in HIV treatment hospitals in Nigeria.