Determinants of Bangladeshi patients' decision-making process and satisfaction toward medical tourism in India

Muhammad Zakaria; Muhammad Aminul Islam; Md Khadimul Islam; Aklima Begum; Nahida Akter Poly; Feng Cheng; Junfang Xu

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2023.1137929

Determinants of Bangladeshi patients' decision-making process and satisfaction toward medical tourism in India

Front Public Health. 2023 May 2:11:1137929. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1137929. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Muhammad Zakaria^{1

2}, Muhammad Aminul Islam², Md Khadimul Islam², Aklima Begum³, Nahida Akter Poly⁴, Feng Cheng^{5

6}, Junfang Xu^{7

8}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Chittagong, Chattogram, Bangladesh.
² Department of Communication, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States.
³ Department of English, Shaikh Burhanuddin Post Graduate College, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
⁴ Department of English, Daffodil International University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
⁵ Vanke School of Public Health, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
⁶ Institute for Healthy China, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
⁷ Center for Health Policy Studies, School of Public Health, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China.
⁸ Department of Pharmacy, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China.

Abstract

Objectives: The aims are to explore the factors influencing Bangladeshi patients' decision-making process and their satisfaction level toward medical tourism in India.

Methods: The study used a quantitative research approach with a cross-sectional survey. Data were collected from the patients or their relatives (N = 388) who would have decided to travel to India for medical and treatment purposes at the Chittagong Indian visa center (IVAC). Data were collected using a structured, pre-tested, and facilitator-administered questionnaire, which mainly included the social demographic characteristics, health status, medical tourism information and medical tourism index. Hierarchical regression analysis was performed to explore the factors influencing their satisfaction level toward medical tourism in India.

Results: More than three-fourths of the participants had visited India for self-treatment. Of the participants, 14% were cardiology patients, and 13% suffered from cancer. The relatives were the key source of information regarding medical tourism for more than one-fourth of the respondents. India's availability of well-experienced doctors, hospital/medical facilities with high standards, well-trained doctors, reputable doctors, and quality treatments and medical materials were top-ranked items. Regression results depict that facility and services appeared as the strongest factor (β = 0.24, t = 4.71, p < 0.001) followed by tourism destination factor (β = 0.16, t = 3.11, p = 0.002), medical tourism costs factor (β = 0.16, t = 3.24, p = 0.001) and country environment factor (β = 0.15, t = 2.69, p = 0.007).

Conclusions: We found that the factor related to facility and services is one of the strongest predictors in our models. Therefore, home countries must strengthen the health care providers' advanced professional training, including service attitudes. Moreover, it is important to lessen the language barrier, reduce the airfare for medical tourists, and make the treatment cost more affordable for patients.

Keywords: country environment; facility; medical tourism; medical tourism costs; services; tourism destination.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Bangladesh
Cross-Sectional Studies
Humans
India
Medical Tourism*
Patient Satisfaction

Grants and funding

This study was partly supported by the University of Chittagong, Chattogram, Bangladesh (Grant No. 299/2020), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China Medical Board (Project Nos. 20-391 and 202033), Research Fund, the Vanke School of Public Health, Tsinghua University (Project No. 2021ZZ004), Sanming Project of Medicine in Shenzhen (Project No. SZSM202111001), and National Key R&D Program of China during the 14th Five-Year Plan Period (Project No. 2021ZD0114102).