Background: Patient satisfaction is considered an important source of information about the quality of care, as it reflects health care planning, health systems, and care processes. Objective: To assess satisfaction among diabetic patients attending family health services in Aga District, Dakahlia Governorate, Egypt. Methods: A cross-sectional study with a comparative component was conducted on a total of 403 diabetic patients who were registered in the selected health facilities of the Aga district. A three-part interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data about satisfaction. It covered sociodemographic characteristics, diabetic care, and satisfaction. Patient satisfaction was assessed using a 26-items Satisfaction Diabetes Scale. Results: The average age was 54.2±7.3 years and 53.3 % of them are males. The median duration of diabetes among the studied cases was 3 years. Approximately 63% of the patients were on oral hypoglycemic, 22% on insulin, and 11% on both. Out of 403 patients, 40 % have good satisfaction, 50.9% have fair satisfaction and 9.2% only have poor satisfaction. The following factors were statistically significant predictors for fair to poor satisfaction; urban residence (OR= 1.54), treatment regimen (OR=2.79 & 1.31 for using insulin treatment and oral hypoglycemic drugs, respectively), and presence of complications (OR=6.89).
Conclusion: Satisfaction of diabetic patients towards family health care services in the studied center was suboptimal. Lack of awareness of diabetic complications is a main contributor to the suboptimal satisfaction. Improving patient education and more physician-patient interaction is probably required to improve satisfaction of diabetic patients.