Assessment of Patient’s Perceptions about Afternoon Clinics and Their Satisfaction at Suhar Hospital | Chapter 2 | New Visions in Medicine and Medical Science Vol. 7

Background: Afternoon clinics have gained popularity as an alternative to traditional daytime clinics, providing patients with the convenience of scheduling appointments and overcoming potential barriers such as work obligations or transportation issues. The development of Afternoon clinics aims to reduce the patient's negative experience from overcrowding in the clinics. Despite their increasing prevalence, there is limited research on the impact of afternoon clinics on patient satisfaction. Therefore, this study seeks to contribute to the existing literature by exploring patient perception and satisfaction with the afternoon clinics at Suhar Hospital.
 
Methods: This cross-sectional survey targeted outpatients attending both morning and evening clinics at Suhar Hospital during May-June 2023. A total of 100 patients aged 18 years participated in the study. At the clinics, patients were provided with a self-reported questionnaire during their visits. The benefits of afternoon appointments were evaluated using a likert scale. The results showed an excellent internal consistency of 0.957. Descriptive and inferential statistics were utilized to analyze the data.
 
Results: Of the 100 patients who submitted the survey, 58% were females, 73% aged 30 years and above, 53% held a university degree and 56% were employed. Most participants (67%) visited the hospital during the morning shift with 44% visiting endocrine clinics and 68% coming for follow-up visits. Overall, 83% of participants expressed satisfaction with health services received at current visits. The majority of afternoon appointments (67%) were first visit while the majority of moring appointments (85%) were follow-up visits. Patients who attended afternoon shift expressed a preference for future afternoon appointments while patients who attended morning shift preferred future morning appointments. Most respondents (91%) supported the hospital to continue offering afternoon clinics, 95% requested more specialities and 94% suggested providing afternoon appointments for specialized clinics at polyclinics level. As an overall preference, 47% of participants preferred afternoon slot, 15% preferred morning slot while 38% had no specific preference. Participants generally agreed on the advantages of afternoon shift with an average agreement level of 4.12 (SD=0.72) on a scale of 5 scores. However, participants had concerns about potential conflics with study or work schedules (Mean=3.98, SD=1.03), the flexibility of medical record staff to process their visit (Mean=4.03, SD=0.88) and the availability of transportation (Mean=4.04, SD=0.84).
 
Conclusion: Lunching afternoon clinics at Suhar Hospital was an initiative to meet patient needs and expectations. Patients reported an overall satisfaction of afternoon time in terms of reducing waiting times, offering flexible scheduling options and enhancing logistical arrangements. For further improvement of patient access to specialized care, afternoon clinics can be expanded to include more specialities at the level of the hospital as well as integrating the service into primary health care. This would allow for greater accessibility and convenience for patients seeking specialized care in various locations. By this study, the ministry of health (MOH) can further improve the quality of care provided to its population.

Author(s) Details:

Ali Al Reesi,
Suhar Hospital, Ministry of Health, Oman.

Talib Al Maqbali,
Suhar Hospital, Ministry of Health, Oman.

Hatem Al Saadi,
Suhar Hospital, Ministry of Health, Oman.

Tahani Al Balushi,
Suhar Hospital, Ministry of Health, Oman.

Hamed Al Reesi,
General of Health Services-NBG, Ministry of Health, Oman.

Please see the link here: https://stm.bookpi.org/NVMMS-V7/article/view/14219

Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Diabetic Ketoacidosis among COVID-19 Patients: A Study at Suhar Hospital, Oman | Chapter 7 | Novel Research Aspects in Medicine and Medical Science Vol. 8

 This study's objective search out investigate the predominance, clinical traits, and consequences of DKA and COVID-19 patients sick to Suhar Hospital in Oman. Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is characterized by uncontrolled hyperglycemia, metabolic upset stomach, and increased physique ketone concentration. It is a life-threatening difficulty of diabetes and is usually visualized in patients with type-1 diabetes mellitus. Rarely it grant permission also happen in patients with type-2 diabetes mellitus. DKA is a state of a relative or categorical insulin deficiency namely worsened by hyperglycemia, dehydration, and upset stomach. In most cases, the trigger is an contamination, new-onset diabetes, or lack of agreement with treatment.  Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is an severe complication with COVID-19 patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). It is establish to be a chief cause of poor prognostic indicators in COVID-19 inmates. A retrospective review of DKA victims admitted to Suhar Hospital, Oman, from March 2020 to August 2020. DKA patients will be top-secret as with or outside laboratory- confirmed COVID-19. SPSS, adaptation 22, was used to describe dossier (median, interquartile range-IQR and percentages) and to test for statistical distinctnesses at 5% significance level (u.s. city- square test, Fisher’s exact test and Mann-Whitney U-test). Twenty seven patients were found to accomplish the criteria of DKA. Of ruling class, 13 patients had rooted COVID representing a prevalence of 1.4%. COVID DKA victims compared to non-COVID were distinguished as being males (54% vs. 43%), older (36 vs. 22), lengthier on hospital stay (5 vs. 2), had T2DM (62% vs. 7%), confessed to ICU (46% vs. 7%) and higher in mortality (31% vs. 0%) in addition to clinically presented accompanying a low pH (7 vs. 7.2) and bicarbonate (6.2 vs. 11.1), high antitoxin creatinine (101.0 vs. 84.0) and CRP (34.0 vs. 4.8). Significant factors (p<0.05) raise to enhance mortality with COVID DKA patients were COVID pneumonia asperity, extensive bilateral radiological infiltrates, ICU admissions, machinelike ventilation, harsh metabolic acidosis and larger WBC and Neutrophils. All deceased COVID-19 DKA patients grown complications in the way that ARDS, renal failure, requiring hemodialysis and poisonous shock. This study emphasizes the link 'tween COVID-19 and DKA as well as the effects of allure 31% death rate and remote possibility characteristics. This highlights the union of COVID-19 and DKA among T2DM and extended hospital stay. Severe COVID pneumonia, severe metabolic upset stomach, ICU admissions, mechanical ventilations and extreme inflammatory markers were weak prognostic factors between COVID-19 patients admitted accompanying DKA.

Author(s) Details:

Ali Al-Reesi,
Consultant Endocrinologist, Head of Internal Medicine Department, Suhar Hospital, Ministry of Health, Oman.

Hamed Al-Reesi,
Head of Studies and Research Department, Directorate General of Planning and Studies, Ministry of Health, North Batinah Governorate, Oman.

Please see the link here: https://stm.bookpi.org/NRAMMS-V8/article/view/12186