Factors Influencing Participation In Decision Making During Health Care Among Patients Aged Between 18-45 Years In The Medical Ward Of Tororo Hospital

Abstract

Background: Decision making in health care forms the core of patient centered care that has significantly gained ground as opposed to the biomedical model where patients take a passive role in decision making. This study sought to assess the factors influencing participation in decision making during health care among patients aged between 18-45 years in the Medical Ward of Tororo Hospital between January 2018 and May 2018.

Methods: The study was a cross sectional study that involved 150 patients at Tororo Hospital, Uganda. A Simple random sampling was used to sample the participants while data collection was done using a researcher-developed questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 20.

Results: The study demonstrated that the level of participation in decision making in this study population was high. Various factors independently predict participation in decision making, and these included: age, highest level of education attained, information sources on the patients‘ right to participate in decision making and the patients‘ perceived style of decision making at the health facility.

Recommendations: Various factors should be considered when designing and implementing decision making as a core of patient centered care in routine care. Understanding the correlates to patient involvement in decision making is seminal in designing interventions aimed at encouraging HCP. The ministry of health and the district health authorities; policies on decision making should be incorporated in service delivery in Uganda so that every patient is encouraged to play an active role in decision making. This will in turn result into better health outcomes.