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Impact of actual waiting time and perceived waiting time on treatment satisfaction in patients receiving outpatient diabetes care

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A Correction to this article was published on 27 January 2021

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Abstract

Aims

We investigated the impact of actual waiting time and perceived waiting time on treatment satisfaction in patients with diabetes receiving outpatient care.

Methods

Three hundred and thirty-six outpatients diagnosed with diabetes mellitus or impaired glucose tolerance were selected and the time they spent in reception, blood collection, consultation, and accounting were recorded to measure the time they spent waiting in the hospital (actual waiting time). Simultaneously, we conducted a questionnaire survey that included questions on their perceptions of the waiting time (perceived waiting time) and satisfaction with treatment (DTSQ).

Results

No significant relationship was found between actual waiting time and DTSQ score, although associations were observed with perceived waiting time. The patients who felt the overall waiting time was long scored 23.0, those who felt it was short scored 26.0, and those who felt it was very short scored 34.0, with those who felt the waiting time was long having a significantly lower score (p = 0.004, p < 0.001, respectively) and those who felt it was short having a significantly lower score than those who felt it was very short (p = 0.008). In addition, more patients who felt the waiting time was long expressed dissatisfaction with the responses of doctors and staff than those who felt the waiting time was short.

Conclusions

These results suggest that in addition to reducing actual waiting times, shortening perceived waiting times by improving the responses of medical staff could help to increase patient satisfaction.

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Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. TDE Healthcare Corporation TOSAKI Clinic for Diabetes and Endocrinology, 2-1007, Motoueda, Tenpaku ward, Nagoya, Aichi, 468-0009, Japan

    Shiori Toga-Sato & Takahiro Tosaki

  2. Division of Diabetes, Department of Internal Medicine, Aichi Medical University School of Medicine, 1-1, Yazakokarimata, Nagakute, Aichi, 480-1195, Japan

    Masaki Kondo, Shin Tsunekawa, Yoshiro Kato, Jiro Nakamura & Hideki Kamiya

Authors
  1. Shiori Toga-Sato
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  2. Takahiro Tosaki
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  3. Masaki Kondo
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  4. Shin Tsunekawa
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  5. Yoshiro Kato
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  6. Jiro Nakamura
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  7. Hideki Kamiya
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by ST-S and TT. The first draft of the manuscript was written by ST-S and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shiori Toga-Sato.

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Conflict of interest

Shiori Toga-Sato declares no conflicts of interest associated with this manuscript. Takahiro Tosaki received lecture fees from Eli Lilly, Astellas, AstraZeneca, Mitsubishi Tanabe, MSD and Takeda, and research funding from Mitsubishi Tanabe, Daiichi Sankyo and Takeda. Masaki Kondo received research funding from Johnson & Johnson, Daiichi Sankyo, Eli Lilly, Kyowa Hakko Kirin, Taisho Toyama, MSD, Mitsubishi Tanabe, Sanofi, Takeda, Japan Tobacco, Novo Nordisk and Ono. Shin Tsunekawa received research funding from Johnson & Johnson, Daiichi Sankyo, Eli Lilly, Kyowa Hakko Kirin, Taisho Toyama, MSD, Mitsubishi Tanabe, Sanofi, Takeda, Japan Tobacco, Novo Nordisk and Ono. Yoshiro Kato received research funding from Johnson & Johnson, Daiichi Sankyo, Eli Lilly, Kyowa Hakko Kirin, Taisho Toyama, MSD, Mitsubishi Tanabe, Sanofi, Takeda, Japan Tobacco, Novo Nordisk and Ono. Jiro Nakamura received lecture fees from Kyowa Hakko Kirin, Ono, Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Novartis, Sanofi, MSD, Taisho Toyama, Mitsubishi Tanabe, Astellas and Shionogi, and research funding from Johnson & Johnson, Daiichi Sankyo, Eli Lilly, Kyowa Hakko Kirin, Taisho Toyama, MSD, Mitsubishi Tanabe, Sanofi, Takeda, Japan Tobacco, Novo Nordisk and Ono. Hideki Kamiya received lecture fees from Eli Lilly, Ono, Novartis, Astellas, MSD, Takeda, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Sanofi and Novo Nordisk, and research funding from Johnson & Johnson, Daiichi Sankyo, Eli Lilly, Kyowa Hakko Kirin, Taisho Toyama, MSD, Mitsubishi Tanabe, Sanofi, Takeda, Japan Tobacco, Novo Nordisk and Ono.

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The original online version of this article was revised due to table 2 and 3 was published incorrectly and corrected in this version.

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Toga-Sato, S., Tosaki, T., Kondo, M. et al. Impact of actual waiting time and perceived waiting time on treatment satisfaction in patients receiving outpatient diabetes care. Diabetol Int 12, 293–300 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13340-020-00486-y

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