Evaluation of the quality of physiotherapy service in University of Gondar comprehensive specialized hospital in Northwest Ethiopia

Abstract

Abstract Background: Now-a-days, the number of people with physical disability and impairment is increasing significantly in Ethiopian, especially in the northern part. In that regards, the Ethiopian government has been providing physical rehabilitation services to recover victims from physical impairment and disability. However, due to the widespread problem on the healthcare service and increment of patient flow, quality of the physiotherapy service might be compromised and evidences are meager. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate quality of the physiotherapy service in University of Gondar comprehensive specialized hospital, northwest Ethiopia. Methods: A single case study with concurrent mixed method evaluation was conducted from May 7-July 14, 2022. The evaluation used patient-centeredness, timeliness, compliance and availability dimensions with 27 indicators. A total of 415 systematically selected patients who come for physiotherapy service for exit interview, 9 service providers and mangers for keyinformant interview, 8 patients for in-depth interview were participated in the study. A total of 176 patient medical charts was reviewed and 14 patient-provider interaction observation was done. Binary logistic regression analysis was computed to identify factors associated with patient-centeredness, timeliness and in the final model, variables with a p-value <0.05 and adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to declare statistical significance. Thematic analysis for the qualitative data using OPEN CODE version 4.03 were done. Finally the dimensions and overall quality of physiotherapy service were judged using a pre-determined criteria. Results: According to the predetermined judgment parameter, the overall quality of the physiotherapy service was found 59.2%, computed from availability of resource 58.1%, compliance of service providers 63.3%, timelines 42.3%, and patient centeredness 66.6%. Qualitative findings also revealed that, lack of resources, poor infrastructures, ineffective management, lack of training and continuous professional development opportunities, nonexistence of multidisciplinary approach and periodical monitoring and evaluation system in palace were factors contributing for low quality of physiotherapy service in University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital.