Patient Satisfaction and Perception of Healthcare Quality Among National Youth Service Corps Members Under the National Health Insurance Programme in Rivers State, South-South, Nigeria

Abstract

Healthcare provision and access are essential for meeting individuals’ basic health needs. The Group, Individual and Family Social Health Insurance Programme–NYSC (GIFSHIP-n) was established to provide healthcare services to corps members. Assessing corps members’ satisfaction with services under the programme is important for evaluating quality of care, identifying gaps, and guiding improvements. This study assessed corps members’ satisfaction with the quality of care accessed through GIFSHIP-n in Rivers State, Nigeria, using a descriptive cross-sectional design and a self-administered online questionnaire (Google Forms). Descriptive statistics, including frequency tables and cross-tabulations were generated to summarise the data. Associations between socio-demographic characteristics and satisfaction were examined using regression analysis. A confidence limit of 95% was used and a p-value of less than 0.05 considered significant. A total of 697 corps members responded to the questionnaire, with a mean age of 25.7 ± 2.3 years. The overall mean satisfaction score was 76.4% ± 18.1. The highest satisfaction level was recorded for doctors’ consultation (83.6% ± 14.0), while the availability of prescribed drugs and waiting time recorded the lowest satisfaction levels: 71.9% ± 20.1 and 60.3% ± 22.6. Despite the high satisfaction levels in some aspects of care, many respondents expressed dissatisfaction with the unavailability of prescribed drugs and long waiting times. Hence, it is necessary to address these service delivery gaps to ensure sustainability, improve impact, and make GIFSHIP-n a model for expanding health insurance coverage across Nigeria