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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1471297
This article is part of the Research Topic Advancements and Challenges in Mental Health Services: 2024 View all 4 articles

Mental Health Service Satisfaction Among adults with Mental Illness Attending a Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic: A Cross-Sectional Study

Provisionally accepted
Wondale Getinet Alemu Wondale Getinet Alemu 1*Lillian Mwanri Lillian Mwanri 2Clemence Due Clemence Due 3Telake Azale Telake Azale 1Anna Ziersch Anna Ziersch 4
  • 1 University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia
  • 2 Torrens University Australia, Adelaide, Australia
  • 3 University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
  • 4 Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Patient satisfaction with services is both a direct and indirect indicator of healthcare quality. It influences healthcare outcomes, patient retention, and the likelihood of medical malpractice claims. However, there is limited evidence on patient satisfaction with mental health services in Africa. Therefore, we aimed to assess mental health service satisfaction and its determinants in adult patients with mental illness in an outpatient clinic in Northwest Ethiopia.A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted from October to March 2023.Participants were selected using systematic random sampling with a sample interval of three, resulting in a total sample size of 638 invited to participate. Service satisfaction was measured using the interviewer-administered Client Satisfaction Questionnaire-8 (CSQ-8). Data entry, coding, and analysis were performed using SPSS-28. To examine the association of sociodemographic, clinical, social support, and substance use factors, bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were applied. Statistical significance was declared at a p-value of <0.05 and 95% CI.The rate of low mental health service satisfaction among people with mental illness in this study was 24.7%. According to our multivariate logistic regression analysis, people with urban residence 1.77 (1.15, 2.72), poor self-reported health 3.62(1.97,6.67), having episodic illness ≥2/yr. 0.48 (0.32, 0.74), having relapse 1.75 (1.12, 2.73), and poor drug adherence 2.28 (1.20, 4.35) were more likely to have low mental health service satisfaction than their counterparts.One-quarter of patients with mental illness in the outpatient clinic reported low satisfaction with mental health services. Factors associated with lower satisfaction included urban residency, episodic illness, relapse, poor self-reported health, and poor drug adherence. To enhance patient satisfaction, the clinic should prioritize targeted support for patients facing these challenges.

    Keywords: Service satisfaction, mental health service satisfaction, factors, outpatient, Ethiopia

    Received: 27 Jul 2024; Accepted: 08 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Alemu, Mwanri, Due, Azale and Ziersch. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Wondale Getinet Alemu, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia

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