Waiting Time:Perception of Demographic Groups

The amount of time a patient waits to be seen is one factor which affects the utilisation of healthcare services. A considerable amount of research has focused, in particular, on healthcare in India. The application of exploratory factor analysis comes with two factors namely treatment process and admission process considered in waiting time. The study hypothesises that demographic characteristic of the patients affect their perception about waiting time. The results of t-test indicate that in gender-wise comparison, both male and female respondents have significant differences in their perceptions about waiting time. The application of F-test confirms the significance difference in perception of demographic groups namely age, education, and profession. The mean perception indicate below average satisfaction towards waiting time. The study also discusses various problem and suggestion regarding waiting time in hospital. It concludes with limitations and directions for future research.