Assessment of adult outpatient waiting time for consultation and its associated factors at Debre Tabor comprehensive specialized hospital, Northwest, Ethiopia, 2025

Introduction: Outpatient departments are crucial for hospital access but face complaints due to long wait times. High patient-to-doctor ratios, lengthy card searches, and slow registrations. To address these issues, strategies like referral prioritization and cancellation policies are employed. Objective To assess adult outpatient waiting time for consultation and its associated factors at Debre Tabor Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Northwest, Ethiopia, 2024. Method Facility based cross sectional study design was conducted among1058 clients visited OPD, from April 01/2024 to May 1/ 2024 in Debre Tabor comprehensive specialized hospital. The study participants were selected using a systematic random sampling method. Then the data was collected using face-to-face interview techniques. SPSS version 27also used for data analysis. Multivariable binary logistic regression model was fitted and adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence interval was computed to determine the strength of association between each variable with waiting time at OPD. Variables with P-value < 0.05 will be considered as statistically significant Result The mean (+ SD) of waiting time at OPD was 90.02 ± 36.148 minutes (95% CI: 87.89–92.35).Patients aged 45–64 years (AOR:2.11(1.07–4.16), male patients (AOR: 1.68(1.14–2.47), patients who residing in urban (AOR:1.53(1.05–2.24),patients in cashier waiting areas (AOR:0.36(0.20-.64), patients whose charts transported by porters (AOR:0.17(0.05–0.57),patients served by punctual staff (AOR :0.54(0.32–0.89), patients receiving staff briefs on the OPD workflow (AOR:0.34(0.09–0.33),were associated with long waiting at OPD. Conclusion and recommendation : In this study the overage waiting time at OPD, bellow the WHO acceptable waiting time of 50 minutes was 13.8%. Contributing factors to long wait times included age (45–64 years), male gender, urban residency, and registration inefficiencies. To meet WHO standards, healthcare facilities should streamline registration, improve staff punctuality, and enhance OPD communication. Targeted interventions for vulnerable groups, particularly older males and urban residents, are essential to reduce wait times and improve patient satisfaction.