Satisfaction of Patients with Multiple Sclerosis Towards the Provision of Healthcare Services at a Tertiary Care Setting in Saudi Arabia

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune-mediated neurological disorder and the most frequent neurological disability in young adults. Assessing MS patient satisfaction with care is necessary to evaluate healthcare service quality and factors impacting it.

Objectives: We aimed to determine the satisfaction of patients with MS towards the provision of healthcare services, and the factors affecting their satisfaction.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey from November 2022 to December 2022 at King Saud Medical City, Saudi Arabia. The study participants completed the CANHELP Lite27 questionnaire, which consists of 21 items.

Results: A total of 300 patients with MS participated in this study. The majority were female (80%), with an average age of 31.6 years and a mean disease duration of 5.22 years. Overall, satisfaction was moderate (63.59 ± 14.54). Patients were most satisfied with general aspects of care (72.00 ± 16.46), doctor relationships (68.58 ± 14.88), and communication (67.72 ± 17.60), but less so with decision-making (64.98 ± 18.37) and illness management (59.60 ± 16.31). Correlation analysis revealed a negative association between disease duration and satisfaction across all domains (correlation coefficient ranged from -0.290 to -0.206, p < 0.01), while age showed no significant correlation (p > 0.05). Multiple linear regression identified age as positively influencing satisfaction, while longer disease duration had a negative impact. Higher education and marital status were associated with increased satisfaction, while employment status and having children showed mixed results.

Conclusions: This research uncovered significant insights regarding MS patient satisfaction within healthcare services. Despite moderate satisfaction levels overall, specific interventions are necessary to address shortcomings in decision-making and illness management. The negative correlation between disease duration and satisfaction across all domains underscores the evolving needs of MS patients over time. Future research could examine the effectiveness of illness management programs in improving MS patient satisfaction.