Abstract

Background: Emergency rooms (ERs) are the vital entry points for patients in the healthcare facility of the hospital all around the world. This study aimed to investigate the satisfaction of patients from the management of cases, their understanding of the role of the ERs, and to illustrate their evaluation of the provided services in ERs of , Saudi Arabia.
Methodology: It is a cross-sectional descriptive community-based study carried out on 949 male and female patients from all age groups, attending the ERs of hospitals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from Jun 1 to Oct 31, 2019. Data were collected by filling out a predesigned online disseminated questionnaire. Statistical Package for Social Sciences program version 16 was used to analyze the study data. A chi-square test was used as a test of significance, and differences were considered to be significant at a p-value less than 0.05.
Results: Most (78.0%) of the participants were satisfied with the provided management, and 88.4% reported that they know the role of the ERs. However, most (71.9%) of the cases needed investigations. Regarding causes of leaving the ERs, it was due to improvement in 60.6%, referral to a specialist in 17.0%, hospital admission in 32.1%, and informal reasons in 11.3%. Regarding the evaluation of the provided services in ERs, 32.1%
of the participants found it very good, followed by good in 27.3%, excellent in 20.0%, and accepted in 10.2%, while 10.3% reported bad services. Satisfaction from the provided management was insignificantly related to age group, gender, educational level, and the need for investigations (p > 0.05), but it was significantly related to whether the needed investigations were carried out in suitable timing or not.
Conclusion: The current study reported that most of the patients were satisfied with the management provided in the ERs of hospitals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Also, satisfaction from the provided management was significantly associated with whether the needed investigations were carried out in suitable timing or not. Further studies are recommended in different areas of the country.

Key words: Emergency rooms (ERs), satisfaction, evaluation, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia