Client Satisfaction on HIV/ART Laboratory Service Delivery

An estimated 33.4 million people live with HIV globally out of which about 22.4 million (68%) were in sub-Saharan Africa (1). The single point estimate shows that national HIV prevalence in Ethiopia was 2.3% in 2009 (7.7% urban; 0.9% rural; 2.8% Female; and 1.8% Male). With 1.1 million people living with HIV out of which 336160 were eligible for antiretroviral treatment and 268‚934 patients have been ever started on antiretroviral treatment. Estimates of 210306 people were living with HIV in Addis Ababa (2). Client satisfaction is a multi-dimensional concept that has various definitions. According to Parasuraman it is a summary psychological state as a result of the emotion surrounding disconfirmed expectations being coupled with the consumer’s prior feelings about the consumption experience (3). It has also been described as the gap between what clients expect to receive as a service and what they actually get (4). Moreover it is an important indicator of quality of services and shows the relationship between services & treatment outcomes (5). It helps clients get a say in health care provision evaluation and improvement. And it gives direct feedback to service providers.